10 posts from 2009

Sunday/January 25, 2009

This Sunday, we begin our series entitled "Those Found Fearless," a series about average people just like you and me who became champions and overcame insurmountable odds.  In this series, we are going to look at some great Old Testament stories about people who battled with fear - just like so many of us. We will also explore how God delivered them from their fear, into a strong faith. Battles are inevitable but victory is not. We often find ourselves fighting enemies that are stronger than we are. So how do you stand fearless when there’s so much at stake? Be inspired by those found fearless.

In the next few weeks, we take a close look at the following lives that stood fearless in the face of those bigger and stronger, and became overcomers! Old Testament heros in this series that we will be examining are: Gideon, Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego, Benaiah, Jonathan, and David.  Today, we will find that God saw Gideon as a mighty warrior. but Gideon saw himself as weak and one of the least. But all this is about to change!

Our key Bible text is found in 2 Timothy 1:7, it states;
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Sunday / January 11
Part 2
 "Refurbished," a series about renewed life, faith and vision. There’s a familiar old story that’s told about a tightrope walker, who was aptly named Tightrope, who did incredible stunts all over Paris, he would do tightrope acts at tremendously scary heights. Then, he would do it blindfolded, then he would go across the tightrope, blindfolded, pushing a wheelbarrow. As the story goes, there was an American promoter who read about this in the newspapers and wrote a letter to the tightrope walker, saying, “Tightrope, I don’t believe you can do it, but I’m willing to make you an offer. For a very substantial sum of money, besides all your transportation fees, I would like to challenge you to perform your act over Niagara Falls.
Tightrope wrote back and said, "Sir, I’d love to come." After a lot of promotion and setting the whole thing up, a crowd of people came to see the event. Tightrope was to start on the Canadian side and come over to the American side on this rope suspended over the falls. After a suspenseful drum roll, he came across blindfolded.
The crowds went wild, and he came to the promoter and says, "Well, Mr. Promoter, now do you believe I can do it?" He said, "Well of course I do. I mean, I just saw you do it." "No," said Tightrope, "do you really believe I can do it?" "Well of course I do, you just did it." "No, no, no," said Tightrope, "do you believe I can do it?" "Yes," said Mr. Promoter, "I believe you can do it." "Good," said Tightrope, "then get in the wheelbarrow."
You see, faith is never something just to be talked about. It is something that must be demonstrated in the way we live.
Paul Harvey once said, “If you don’t live it, you don’t believe it.” There’s Biblical basis for that statement. James said, “Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” (James 2:18).