The Eyes of Faith

Almighty God as we Proclaim your word this morning that you open our hearts and Minds to be more like you and Christ name. Amen. And I was a tough Gospel reading this morning so I can I'm following kind of election area of the church. So every week within three years will go through the whole Bible together and sometimes our rough passages. So just throwing that out there. So this morning were talking about the pillars of faith. And so last week comes a recap we talked about founders of the church and Wesley and what he went through as a as a Young Man a house fire that he escaped and how that has influence us today. So this morning we're going to talk about another man up here. If you don't recognize this picture, I'll tell you who he is in a minute. And so can I go back about 400 years to England and we have English rule kings and queens and this young man who was a Shoemaker. Was trying to figure out exactly what he believed. And so what do you think you did? He started going around the countryside exploring talking every priest Pastor religious leader that he could run into. I've had a very familiar story where I've gotten in the car. And I'm I'm trying to figure out God. What do you want next and I just go to a couple random churches and talk to pastors and I wonder what what in the robot do you want from me? So this is what this guy did he was a Shoemaker? And I eventually he realized some point in his life.

Come and get the quote here. Here's a voice. And this voice simply says there is one even Christ Jesus that can speak to the eye condition. So his condition was uncertainty has anybody ever felt uncertain. And he realize that no Pastor no church to tell him what the Lord wanted to tell him that the Lord could speak to him directly. And he says his heart leaped for joy.

His name was George Fox and George fight started a movement. There's a university out in Portland called George Fox University. He started a movement called The Fellowship of friends also known as the Quakers. And the Quakers aren't interesting group. If you've never been to one of their worship Services, there's no music a sit there and silence reflecting upon the words of God waiting for the Holy Spirit to speak up the different type of church. Absolutely. George Fox influenced others in the faith those only get about 400 years ago. He influence people like the Wesley's Susanna and Samuel there. influenced susannah's father and susannah's father was a separatist an English separatist. And so he preached against the Church of England at that time. And the point here is that George Fox has influence on us today. George box would be thrown in jail and prison. And for what he believed what he believed was he didn't need someone telling him what Jesus had to say for his heart. And so they throw him in jail and he got thrown in jail three or four times. And what do you do if you preach to the jailers? And then the jailers would release him and follow him. Oh, yeah. So by the time he died, I keep trying not skipping the head here. There were fifty thousand followers. Again, he didn't believe in seminary even though it's kind of ironic. There's a cemetery named after him now now there's 210,000 Quakers around the world. And basically it was a movement of Silence. How can God speak to our hearts now? I don't know about you all but those silent Retreats at some Churches. Do I am not good at it all. So in seminary we had to do silent Retreats, and we will go out to like a Christian Camp and we had to spend 12 hours not talking anyone in prayer. It was horrible for me. And so I here in a couple weeks. I'm going to have an opportunity to go on another silent Retreat and it's going to be just as challenging. so George Fox the pillar of Faith. He's the one that enabled the laity that is you all this morning to be the body of Christ. Before that it was the priests or the pastor telling everyone really what the word of God said. The educated right? Cuz we went to Seminary so we know how to interpret the Bible and no one else does no George Fox change that you made it where each of us this morning and open the Bible for ourselves, which I Rejoice. So our first thing this morning as nothing is impossible with faith. By faith, they cross the Red Sea as if they were on dry land, but when the Egyptians tried it they were drowned. Arthritis, Jericho's walls fell after the people marched around them for 7 Days think of how impossible it wasn't killed with a disobedient because she welcomed the spies and peace. What more can I say? I would not run out of time if I told you. About Gideon Barak Samson shut off David Samuel and the prophets through faith. They conquered kingdoms brought about Justice realize promises. Shut the mouths of lions. Now, I grew up in south, Louisiana. We don't have Lions, but we sure had alligators. And I would get in trouble because I would go down to the canals cuz I like to catch the like, you know, like the three or four foot alligators and my mom and dad would always tell me will you know, there's a mom somewhere but it was so much fun to do but I just imagined, you know, the big mama alligator. We just went to the museum there and Gainesville yesterday the Natural History Museum. There's that big alligator in the crocodile exhibit. Could I could not imagine closing the jaw of that alligator? Yes, what are raging fires escaped from the edge of the sword found strength and weakness were Mighty and wars and routed foreign armies? Women received back their dead by Resurrection. Wow Others were tortured and refused to be released so they can gain a better Resurrection. So I just imagined die doing the impossible. So you guys probably where in the world is that so I grew up again in south, Louisiana and this is the Hale Boggs bridge and that is the Mississippi River. So when I was growing up it was always what side of the river did you grow up on and depending on where you came from depending on how you talked and how your last name was spelled depending on what side of that River you came from and what side of the swamp but I could imagine going up to this river which is massive. And if you go in that you're going to die. I mean it it's it's huge. It's powerful and strong the currents are ridiculous, but I can imagine going up to that River and it's splitting in two. my God did Right, when got when the Israelites were escaping Egypt and got split that Red Sea and they walked across. I can imagine that River. Because without God I certainly would not be going into it. God does the impossible it so when we look at Matthew hear Matthew chapter 17 verse 20 it says because you have a little faith. He said I assure you that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can say to a mountain go from here to there and it will go and nobody nothing that you can't do Faith Can Do The Impossible. Could you imagine literally telling a mountain to go here or there and it moving? Right seems crazy, but this is what Jesus tells us Faith Can Do Faith Can Do Anything? And so I can tell you that we have to be able to preach the word we have to be able to talk about faith and believe that God will do it and we have the opportunity here in this country the preach without power for my SATs share the Gospel of Jesus Christ without the fear of a rest, even though I will say one time I got put in the back of a cop car. It wasn't arrested in New Orleans at that time. You had to have a permit to preach in the streets. And I went to the Baptist Seminary is Nick dead. And I went down to downtown New Orleans to preach to the homeless and we did not have a permit nor did I know that I needed one cuz I was from the small towns. And we got a very strict warning but if they change that now but the point here is we have the ability to preach the gospel. We have the ability to live out our faith.

Nothing is impossible for God Luke 1:37. faithfulness brings persecution the guy we talked about George Fox going to prison going to jail because he was proclaiming a God who was personal.

But others experienced public Shame by being taunted and whipped. And they were even putting chains and in prison. They were stoned to death. and they were cut into They died by being murdered with swords. They went around wearing the skins of sheeps and goats need a price and mistreated. And the world didn't deserve them and they wandered around the deserts Mountain caves and holes in the ground. All these people didn't receive what was promised so they were given approval for their faith and so a back in 2017. I got the honor to go to the holy lands with my Seminary and it was a life-changing trip. And one of the things that we did as we went down to the original Church into the caves. So the original church, if you don't know when meat in these caves around Israel and Palestine and all of those areas. With the dead bodies around them. I don't know if you knew that. The original Church why they use in sense and cents in the church. When you go to a Catholic mass. They're using little incense thing around the church. Why because the original church had to use incense because the bodies around them. I guarantee you that little the paramedics there on the table. We're probably not there two thousand three thousand years ago, but the reality of what the church went through to get to where we are today became very real to me when I visited the holy lands. And so we have to expect. That things are going to be perfect. It wasn't until emperor Constantine. Alright ruled that Christianity was the religion of Rome that Christians were okay. We were accused of all kind of things including eating human flesh. All that we are cannibals because we say at the Lord's table. This is the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Oh, yeah, we were persecuted. We were murdered and killed and often the church has forgotten that passed but in places like Cuba and China where Christianity is still kind of on the outskirts of society. Christians are still persecuted killed for their faith. They're hiding in caves. They're hiding and wherever they can find a place not to be killed for believing in Jesus. I remember when I was at Asbury in Orlando. We had a Methodist Bishop from Russia command and he told us that they had to do baptisms inside their homes in the bathtubs. Because I they were caught outside they would be persecuted. Now again, this is the reality that many Christians around the world or living.

See, we're told that we must run the race with endurance.

So then let us run the race that is laid out in front of us since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. This is the pillars of faith that we're talking about. Let's throw off any extra baggage get rid of the sin that trips us up. And fix our eyes on Jesus. the eyes of Faith this morning face, Pioneer and Perfecter He endured the cross ignoring the shame for the sake of the joy that was laid out in front of him and sat down at the right side of God's throne. So I really want to look at these first couple versus so we have such a great cloud of witnesses and then it says going to throw up any extra baggage. Get rid of the sin that trips us up. So what this is really talking about if I got two but here's a great cloud of witnesses.

That were kind of talking about this morning. And so here's some of the early church and off that we just think especially as I was a youth pastor will those are just a bunch of old dead dudes that really don't matter, but they do they matter here is George Fox and and the Wesley's and BT Roberts. We talked about him and John Wesley. So but the real question for us this morning really is what is between my heart and God's desire. That's having eyes of faith. Having Kingdom eyes having a Kingdom Hearts. What is between what God wants you to do and where you are today? So I believe in the Bible it says that God, you know put us together and relationship for accountability. Some of us are married. And I know that our spouses will hold us accountable will tell us where we're lacking and sometimes we don't like it. Right. I've been with my wife since I've been 15 years old and I can I can tell you she reminded me the other day how juvenile I was 15 and then 2724 mn-25. I can admit that. I made some mistakes that I wasn't a perfect person that I you know with maybe a little reckless. I didn't think about others really before I would open my mouth sometimes things like that. but the point here is How can we as a congregation how can us husband wives and spouses? How can you hold each other accountable? We are lacking in your faith. And it's not just about what we give the time Palace in Treasure. I just about that. It's about our hearts at the hard as s***. How do we give to the to our god the god of the universe? without compromise, so when I think about these It's not working on me. Area we think about these great cloud of witnesses. this morning the early church they gave from their heart. and their lies for the sake of the Gospel they gave them their hearts and lives with sake of the gospel. And so we have to ask ourselves this morning. How are we going to do the same? How are we going to spread the word of God the love of God for this next Generation tell me once the issue with this country. This United States of America is the degeneration of the generations. So when I look back and I look at who brought who the church who brought who up in the face what generation kind of stop putting Faith as a priority and that's not the point fingers. I have to hear parents, so I'm not going to force my kids to go to church. Right not going to force them to go to youth group and I understand cuz you don't want to for them to be upset, but the same sense, you know. How many of them are encouraging their kids to walk in the face? I can tell you I should if she's watching on Facebook live today. I'm sorry cuz I'm missing Linda McGraw Miss Linda McGraw. What pick me up every week to go to church and she had I don't know what kind of car it was with my my family growing up. Our family car was a Mustang my mom and dad that we can put car seats in the Mustang that was a horrible idea. And then we would drive from New Orleans to Chicago to go see my grandparents. Sometimes it's every month and that Mustang me and my sister in the backseat and you had no leg room, but the point was when Miss Lennon would pick me up for church. I would talk bad about her car every week. I'm sorry and but you know what? She didn't care how much a hard time or snotty kid. I was she would pick me up and bring me to church. And if she wasn't there she kept her someone else was every week. I was there. And it didn't matter how many kids went to church or whatever but you know, the majority of the kids that went to my little church growing up 30-40 on Sunday Max the majority of them are in some form of ministry today. And I don't know what they did. I don't know why there was so many of us and Ministry, but we are and I'm very proud of that church that's growing and thriving today. So I'm again. I'm going to come in here but faith.

Let's say what we got faith can move mountains. Faith has the power to do anything. And so I'm just asking, you know, if I prefer people about this church in particular. Where is God bringing us? What's my vision for the future my fit my vision for the future if we haven't already been doing it is I have faith enough to believe anything's possible. That God will bring whoever he wants here. And that will use those folks for Ministry and Outreach the community Faith big enough that parts of that are cold or change Hearts big enough that you know, we don't have kids hungry on the streets. We don't have a Widow's that are worried about where they're going to live the church being the church. So that's what I want to be. That's my that's my vision that we will be the people of faith that God in the Bible tells us to be let us pray. almighty God

we thank you for being the god of the universe for giving us the ability. To make a difference in this world. Can you tell us as we prayed this morning? Got to bring your kingdom to the Earth. God use us this morning as instruments of that. Help us make a difference in this community and the world. We live in. For the persecuted church. I'm not sure how our church and make a difference there. But God use us somehow. Put in our hearts to pray for those people. Can use our church to feed the hungry to clothe the naked to bring homes to the Widow's God use us to be the church the movement here on Earth. What this church be a place of Peace for people that when they walk out from that crazy world. We live in God that the peace that surpasses all understanding is right here. God we thank you so much for being able to just be here in your presence. Are we know that we are so imperfect? But God through your blood 2000 years ago. That you chose us on a cross. God help us as your people be pillars of faith for the Next Generation. God let us leave a legacy behind. That a hundred 200 300 years from now the people are talking about how we is your body at the church here. or instruments for you now that we brought your kingdom here. That we thank you and praise you in Christ's name. Amen.