Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Happy Father's Day, church.
[00:00:05] Happy. Yes.
[00:00:11] So many good men, good dads in this church. Just honored to know you guys and thankful for you. And we've got an ice cream sandwich for you.
[00:00:20] Yeah. You know what? More. How else could we express it?
[00:00:26] And then after next service, we're also gonna invite the dads to do a lot of manual labor and. Yeah, yeah.
[00:00:36] So if you feel a little bit of mixed messages, that's okay.
[00:00:40] It's true. But, man, I am so thankful to be here today. Church, man. We started our first Sunday here 12 years ago.
[00:00:52] Yeah. And when I just kinda. As we're coming to this last Sunday in this building and we're finishing this chapter, and God is leading us into another chapter. Hey, he's writing a pretty awesome story, by the way. I don't know if you see that, but as I think about all that God has done here, I'm just so grateful.
[00:01:14] I'm so thankful.
[00:01:16] It's been such a blessing. And hey, I just want to. If you've been here since around 2013 or 2014, one of those first two years, could you just stand up for a second?
[00:01:27] Yeah.
[00:01:28] Yeah.
[00:01:32] Amen.
[00:01:34] Thank you, guys. Thank you.
[00:01:37] These are people of faith right here.
[00:01:40] They took a step that has blessed all of us.
[00:01:46] So thank you.
[00:01:48] And we're gonna take another step and there's gonna come a day where you're gonna stand up and there are gonna be so many people that are connected to Jesus, that are growing in Jesus, that are serving in Jesus because of the step we're taking today.
[00:02:03] So, church, thank you for that.
[00:02:06] And I'm excited for this next chapter. And today I just wanna. I wanna prepare our hearts for it a little bit. And I wanna talk about the best thing that we can bring into this next chapter that God has for us as a church. And it is called faith.
[00:02:25] And so I wanna talk to you about that today. But just before we do, let's pray.
[00:02:31] Father. Lord, I am just so thankful to you. I'm so thankful for all that you've done here in this place.
[00:02:40] And, Lord, it is just evidence of your goodness and your kindness and your grace.
[00:02:46] Father, every good thing that has happened, we give you the glory.
[00:02:51] Because, Lord, it was you. And, Father, thank you for inviting us into a better future.
[00:02:58] Father, I pray you would help us, you would guide us. And most of all today, I pray you would fill our hearts with a sense of faith and trust in you and, Lord, that our trust in you would grow deeper in this journey and you would be glorified bless us, Lord.
[00:03:19] We ask all this in the great name of Jesus.
[00:03:22] Amen.
[00:03:24] Well, I heard about this lady named Courtney Dewalter, and she's like one of the best endurance runners in the world. Just unbelievable.
[00:03:36] She wins all kinds of these big races. And one of the races that she won is called a last man standing race. And the idea is you run this loop again and again and again till everyone quits and you're the last one standing. Does that sound like a good way to spend a day?
[00:03:54] These are some crazy people, but I'm kind of inspired by them, you know.
[00:04:00] And so she did this last man standing race, and it was a four mile loop, and. And she ran it for 68 hours, 283 miles.
[00:04:13] Like, how is that even humanly possible? Anybody? Like, it's crazy. But what's really cool about her is she explains her mindset in these races, and it's really powerful and inspiring to me. But she says that when she is in these races and, you know, your body just has to feel absolutely horrible.
[00:04:36] You know, I put my socks on wrong and I'm suffering, let alone. Yeah, all right, I got a witness back there. Thank you.
[00:04:45] And you know, let alone something like that. But she said what? All that she focuses on is she imagines in her mind that she's in a cave and she has a hammer and a chisel and she's in this cave, and she's just chiseling the walls of the cave. And she says what she calls that cave is her pain cave.
[00:05:07] And she's making it bigger. And so every step that she takes, every challenge, every time she wants to quit, it's just like chiseling away.
[00:05:16] And the whole idea to her is that she's enlarging her capacity to do these really tough things. And I was like, that's a really cool idea.
[00:05:28] She's like, I don't talk about it that much because I start explaining it in detail and people think I'm crazy. I was like, I kind of think it's cool. Anybody else? Like, that's something sort of powerful. And I want you to have that image in your mind today of a pain cave, because I want to talk to you about building a faith cave.
[00:05:47] A faith cave. And I want to talk to you today about enlarging our trust in God.
[00:05:56] And we're not gonna chip away at pain. We're gonna chip away at unbelief.
[00:06:02] We're gonna chip away at all those things that keep us back from God, that put us in the Place where we're playing it safe that keep us at arm's distance. And I want to talk about enlarging that cave because I believe one of the big things God wants to do in your life and in. In our church in this season is build our faith cave that we would go through this journey. And as we go through this journey, we'd say, man, I have a larger capacity to trust God.
[00:06:37] I have a larger capacity to follow Him. I have a larger desire to honor him. I have a larger desire to obey him. And all of those things are ultimately trust issues, which is what that word faith means. All it means is trust.
[00:06:57] And I want to talk to you about building your trust in God. And the Bible has this incredible example of a man who did it in a very real way and amidst very difficult circumstances. And his name is Abraham. He's one of the great characters in Scripture. And today we're going to look at a bit about his faith, and it's gonna be explained by the Apostle Paul. So we're gonna look at Romans chapter four, and we're gonna kind of pick up in the middle of the story. But what's happening in Romans 4 is the apostle Paul is explaining, and he's talking about Abraham's faith and how it grew.
[00:07:40] So in other words, you just think it's how Abraham sat with a hammer and a chisel and chiseled away in his own mind, and his capacity to trust God grew. So here's where we're gonna begin today. Romans 4, starting at verse 20, it says this.
[00:07:56] No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God. But he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
[00:08:19] That's why his faith was counted to him as righteousness. But the words that was counted to him were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who was raised from the dead. Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised from. For our justification.
[00:08:40] Now, there's a lot to unpack in these verses, but I want you first to see this idea of promise in here.
[00:08:47] See, Paul says that Abraham, he continued to trust this promise from God.
[00:08:56] Now, what's interesting about this idea is that everywhere in the story of Scripture, when God wants to do something new in the world, and when God wants to bless the world, that begins with a promise, it begins with a commitment to do it. But the work is not realized yet. You with me on this. So it's just the promise to do it. And Abraham received this incredible promise from God. And you can read about it in the book of Genesis.
[00:09:30] It's this unbelievable thing. And God showed up to Abraham and he said, abraham, I want to bless the world.
[00:09:36] And Abraham was not a religious guy. He didn't know God, like. So he has this crazy experience. God shows up to him, I want to bless the world. He says, and Abraham, I want to do it through you.
[00:09:48] And Abraham looked around, he said, I think you're looking for my neighbor over here. Like, you got the wrong guy. What's going on?
[00:09:56] And God says, no, I wanna do it through you. And what I'm gonna do is I'm going to build a nation from your family, from your immediate family, I'm gonna build a nation and I'm gonna bless them. They are gonna be my people, and I'm gonna be their God. And they're gonna be so numerous, Abraham, that you couldn't even count them if you tried.
[00:10:17] And Abraham's like, that's a big promise.
[00:10:22] There's only one problem. I don't have any kids.
[00:10:26] And me and my wife are not spring chickens. You know what I'm saying?
[00:10:32] We're well past that time.
[00:10:35] And so that was the nature of the promise, where God's like, I wanna do this incredible thing. But then he shows up to Abraham and his wife, where for all reality, this is an impossible thing.
[00:10:52] This is impossible.
[00:10:54] And it's interesting. That's so often how God seems to work as he shows up and he says, I wanna do this thing.
[00:11:02] And you're like, lord, are you talking to me?
[00:11:06] You got the wrong person, Lord, you wanna do this thing. But we're so far from that thing being done. And that's the nature of. Of why faith is so important.
[00:11:18] Because you have to trust God on the journey. When the journey seems impossible or the destination seems so far away. You with me on this?
[00:11:27] And what's so fascinating about Abraham's story is that when God shows up, he says, oh, and by the way, Abraham, the beginning of this promise means you have to leave your home.
[00:11:41] You have to leave what is comfortable to you, because you can't fulfill my promise and stay where you're at.
[00:11:50] And you know what? Church. I feel that same way for us today.
[00:11:54] We can't fulfill God's purpose and stay where we're at.
[00:12:00] And so many times when God brings a new future that he wants to create in our lives, we're like, God, I want you to create it. But. But I don't want anything to change in my life. You with me, like Lord, do an incredibly new thing, but yet keep everything the same.
[00:12:17] Lord's like, well, you can't have it both ways. You with me on this.
[00:12:21] And faith is that willingness to say no, I will endure. I will step into the unknown. I will step into discomfort because I hear the voice of God calling me in that direction.
[00:12:36] And following that voice is where that better future is and church. That's what we're doing today.
[00:12:43] We're stepping out of what is comfortable. Hey, after 12 years, this place has become home in a sense, but it's not the ultimate home that God has for us. You with me on this?
[00:12:55] And by the way, the church has never been these walls.
[00:12:59] It's never been the address here.
[00:13:02] It's you and me together with God, following him.
[00:13:07] That's what Christchurch west is.
[00:13:10] It can never be defined by any location that we meet. That's just a tool.
[00:13:15] That's just a necessary thing that allows us, but it's not the essence of who we are. You with me on this?
[00:13:24] And so God calls Abraham out of that. And when I think about that story and it reminds me that our church, that's always kind of been the way God has worked in our church.
[00:13:37] In 1982, this is before my time, but in 1982, our lead pastor, Doc Dave Collins, he had a sense that God was saying, hey, I have a church that I want to build in the world.
[00:13:53] And he was a younger man. And at that time it was like this tiny old Baptist church in Parma of 40 people.
[00:14:04] And knowing pastor numbers, that's probably like a good day, you know what I'm saying?
[00:14:11] And God gave him this vision of a church that would draw people to the excellence of Christ, that would help people to serve him in ways that are joyful and meaningful, that would call people to walk with faith and courage and to live like God actually exists and is real. And to do hard things and glorify his name and to live with open hands and generosity. And when God gave him that picture of the future, it was a far ways away.
[00:14:43] It was not what they were looking at right there.
[00:14:46] And then in 1990, that church in Parma moved to Strongsville and they moved to Lund Road.
[00:14:58] And Interestingly enough, in 1990, my parents moved from Lakewood to a house on Lund Road from the Heron family who are here right now.
[00:15:12] And our family over the years eventually, eventually got connected there and God started to build that picture of a church and it was an exciting time. And in 2006, opened up at Columbia Station, and God just blessed it in so many ways. And many of you have seen that and been there. And then in 2013, God's like, I wanna do something else in this church. I'm not. This. This vision isn't done.
[00:15:43] It's just beginning. And he sent some of us out here.
[00:15:50] But I want you to see that every time our church took a risk in following God, God blessed it and honored it and used it. See, church. If we would have stayed where we at from Parma, I would not be here.
[00:16:09] So I'm really thankful that there were some people of faith in that time that said, oh, we will trust God, even though this is scary and this is uncertain.
[00:16:20] And I'm so thankful that in 2013, many of you were like, man, we're gonna trust God and church. Many of you are here today because of their faith and trust in God. You with me and church, we're gonna go to Willow Prep, and God's gonna use that, and people are gonna be drawn there, and God's gonna build that building on Chestnut. And then, like so many people, because every time we take a step and we follow and we go after God's vision, God honors his name and draws people to him. And this is what happened with Abraham. Now, the challenge of all this is what Paul really elaborates in these verses. He said, no unbelief made him waver, but he grew stronger in his faith as he gave glory to God. You see, between promise and fulfillment is a lot of space.
[00:17:19] And that's the hard part.
[00:17:22] It's the space. And there's two things that can happen in the space. The. The space between.
[00:17:28] I think there's a song about that.
[00:17:31] Is that Dave Matthews Band? Yeah. Yeah.
[00:17:35] See, I'm hip. I'm with it.
[00:17:38] He's still around, right?
[00:17:41] But, you know, the space between that, that's where faith, it can either falter or it can thrive.
[00:17:48] Because between the promise and fulfillment is. That's where the rubber meets the road.
[00:17:53] But that is where God does his best work, because that's where God changes us. And so Abraham, he chipped away at unbelief. He had his chisel out, he had his hammer out, and he chipped away. Now, when you read the story, and even when you read the way Paul explains it, Abraham had so many reasons to doubt God. He had so many. And one of the big reasons, it's the verses right before, says that Abraham considered his body as good as dead.
[00:18:29] Like how are we gonna have this great nation? And that actually has become my life verse.
[00:18:34] I'm like, Abraham, I get it, man.
[00:18:36] You were a little bit older when you started. Consider it. But I consider it anyway.
[00:18:43] He had a million reasons to doubt.
[00:18:48] But you know what? You only need one reason to believe, and that is the character of the promise giver, he said. And no matter how hard it got, he was able to just go back, but say, but, yes, but this is God we're talking about.
[00:19:04] And at the end of the day, church, that's what our trust is in here today.
[00:19:10] It's in God.
[00:19:12] It's in his goodness, it's in his wisdom, it's in his calling. And every day when we go back to that and we keep trusting in that, that's what grows us in all the right ways. See, it's interesting when you think about faith and trust.
[00:19:32] It's a simple word in some ways, but it's also a very deep word in other ways.
[00:19:39] And one of the things that people point out is that when Paul talks about faith, he always talks about it in a way where you recognize it's not about you growing it and building it all on your own, but it's actually a gift from God.
[00:20:01] And what that means today is that as we go on this journey, God is always giving us the opportunity and the ability to trust in him in deeper ways if we're willing to receive that. You with me?
[00:20:19] Faith is not. It's not ultimately something that comes from you. It's something that comes in you, from God.
[00:20:27] And learning to receive that and to lean into that is what that journey is actually kind of all about. And Abraham did that. And the thing about faith, too, is that faith is not in what we think should happen or how we think things should happen, but it's in one thing alone again, it's in God Himself.
[00:20:55] I've been going to a pt, which Rob Wolf told me about. Thank you, Rob. And the guy's awesome. And he's been helping me out a lot, but a lot of times he'll be like, hey, do this stretch, do this exercise, whatever. And many times when he tells me what to do, I'm like, I don't understand how that's helping anything.
[00:21:20] I don't understand what mechanics are being shifted or what. I mean, sometimes I can get it, like, touch your toes, I understand that one. But a lot of it, I'm like, I don't understand the finer mechanics of muscles and the skeleton and stuff like that. But all I know is that when I'm done with those sessions, I feel better.
[00:21:42] And so when he tells me to do something, I could sit there and be like, I don't understand this. I don't know what's happening here. Or I could say, well, I don't have to understand it, because I trust him.
[00:21:54] I trust he knows what he's doing.
[00:21:57] And the journey of faith is like that.
[00:22:00] Yeah, we're gonna walk with God. There's gonna be a lot of things you don't understand.
[00:22:05] There's gonna be a lot of things that are beyond us. But what faith goes back to is not a trust in my ability to connect all the dots, but it's a trust in the one who is behind it all, and it's a trust in his character. It says he is trustworthy, he is good. Whether it makes sense to me or not, that's not the issue.
[00:22:29] I'm choosing to trust the one behind it all. And that's what Abraham did. He's like. Abraham's like, I look at this, my body's as good as dead.
[00:22:37] Lord, I don't know how you're gonna do this.
[00:22:40] I don't know when this is gonna happen. I don't know what every detail of my story looks like ahead of time.
[00:22:47] But I trust the one I hear calling me.
[00:22:50] And that's what we have to do. Church.
[00:22:54] That's what this life of faith is about. And here's the beautiful thing. Abraham. Paul says that because of Abraham's faith, we are invited to believe and trust in God. That in some ways, Abraham, he paved the way for us.
[00:23:16] Because faith always has a ripple effect.
[00:23:22] Where there are people willing to trust God, guess what? That becomes a magnet to others.
[00:23:32] Church, I want you to know you are a magnet to this community.
[00:23:36] People are gonna look at the story of us walking with God and taking steps and moving out of here into discomfort and doing all that. And people are gonna be like, what is going on there?
[00:23:50] Why are people parking on the grass?
[00:23:54] What is happening there? Do you know what that your faith.
[00:24:00] People notice that, and people are drawing. And God uses that.
[00:24:07] Church Once that.
[00:24:09] Once we break ground and things begin. There's machines out on that land, and things are. People are going down Route 10. They're gonna be looking at it. They're gonna be like, what is going on?
[00:24:22] They're like, that was just a soybean field.
[00:24:26] And God's like, yes, but my purpose isn't for it to be a place that glorifies my name.
[00:24:32] And they're gonna be drawn In. We had a worship night on Friday, and people were just beeping all the time.
[00:24:37] I don't know if they were beeping in. In support or not, but whatever, I take it.
[00:24:43] I took it as a good thing.
[00:24:46] When you're not sure about the message, just believe it's a good one, you know? No, I think.
[00:24:52] Here's what I'm saying. When the people of God act in faith, people take notice.
[00:24:58] And people are drawn to God. People are. One of the sorriest things is when we live our lives without that adventure of faith.
[00:25:10] And we just go through it and it's like, yeah, we're just kind of. We're gonna play it safe. We're gonna keep doing the same thing.
[00:25:16] We're never gonna be driven to prayer. We're never gonna be driven to sacrifice. We're always gonna avoid hard things. Like when we live our Christian lives that way that doesn't have the same magnetic pole. You with me? What Paul is saying? He's saying, Abraham, he did this thing thousands of years ago.
[00:25:40] And he's saying, and God is still using that to draw people to Jesus Christ.
[00:25:45] I want you to know, because of your faith today, people are gonna be drawn to Jesus Christ, and that's worth it. Church.
[00:25:56] That's what an act of faith does.
[00:25:59] And that's the kind of church we've always been.
[00:26:02] And that's the kind of church God is continuing to call us to be.
[00:26:06] He's saying, we gotta keep growing this faith cave, but it's worth it, because God is glorified. At the end, our sense of trust in him grows.
[00:26:19] And I'm excited for what God has for us.
[00:26:23] My girls, Emory and Abby, they.
[00:26:27] They love two people in this church in a huge way.
[00:26:32] Mia and Harper, they love these teenage girls in our church.
[00:26:37] They are obsessed with them.
[00:26:39] In fact, even today, when we woke up, that was the first things they were talking about. They said, do you think they'll sit with us when we get ice cream? They know ice cream is coming today.
[00:26:51] And.
[00:26:53] And they're like, do you think that they would. You know, we could get ice cream and we could go sit. That was the morning conversation.
[00:27:00] I said, I don't know, but it's Father's Day. Okay? It's about me.
[00:27:06] I don't know. I don't know if you got the memo.
[00:27:11] Yeah, I know you're six, but you could still have a calendar.
[00:27:16] This might be.
[00:27:22] They're like, yeah, but back to me and Harper.
[00:27:25] Yeah, I get it.
[00:27:27] And they just love him. And they Adore him. And anytime they want to do anything, they want to invite them. You know, like, we're going to the park. Can me and Harper come? You know, like. Well, they have lives, believe it or not.
[00:27:39] They're not like mom and dad. Not everything about them revolves around you.
[00:27:44] And.
[00:27:45] But they just. Everything is made better in their mind if they're there with them.
[00:27:51] And it's a beautiful thing. It really is. And what great models for them, role models for them.
[00:27:58] One of the many blessings of a church family.
[00:28:01] But, you know, when I was thinking about that, I was like, man, that is a little bit of picture of the direction of faith. Faith is all. Faith is never just about us.
[00:28:12] It's always about who God wants to invite with us.
[00:28:16] Who, God? Yes. God wants to grow our faith, but he also wants to use our faith to bless other people.
[00:28:24] He also wants it to be something that becomes an invitation to others.
[00:28:31] And faith is at its best when it's operating like that.
[00:28:36] Church as we are. In this next chapter, as a church, I want to encourage you to have an inviting faith in this season.
[00:28:45] I want to encourage you to walk and to grow your faith and your trust in God through this. But I also want to encourage you to invite others with you.
[00:28:56] Next Sunday, we're starting a new chapter, Wheel of Prep. You know what will make this chapter better?
[00:29:03] If there's other people with us to start it.
[00:29:07] And I wanna encourage you, as an act of faith, as a practice of faith, to invite someone with you. We got a nice little invitation card, so you've made it easy.
[00:29:20] It says, come sit with us. You don't even have to say anything. Just make it awkward if you must.
[00:29:27] Now, it's better to say something, but I want to encourage you. Invite someone. Invite someone, because I'm telling you, God is doing something special.
[00:29:37] And God is going to draw people in, and God is going to build and strengthen people.
[00:29:42] And God is going to glorify his name.
[00:29:46] And this is the perfect season for others to be invited in. So that's my challenge to you as we close this chapter and step into the next chapter.
[00:29:59] Say man, who does God want me to invite to bring with me to go on this journey? Because it's better together. Let's pray. Father, I thank you so much that you are a God who is fully trustworthy.
[00:30:19] That Lord, you're not like us.
[00:30:22] All your promises find their yes in Jesus Christ.
[00:30:28] Father, all your plans and your purposes can be trusted because of your character.
[00:30:35] Father, I pray you would just stir and ignite faith in our hearts today that, Lord, we could.
[00:30:44] We could turn this page, trusting in you more than we ever have.
[00:30:50] Father, I thank you so much that as I think about the first day here to now, my conviction of your goodness and your love has just grown.
[00:31:00] And I know, Lord, in the next chapter, from the first page of that to the last one, our trust in you is gonna grow.
[00:31:09] Because, Lord, you are worthy to be believed in, to be trusted in.
[00:31:15] Help us to give you that honor today. Help us to invite others into it. And we pray your name would be glorified in Jesus name, Amen.
