25 Woods Lake Road, Building 8, Greenville, SC
The economy, loss of jobs, our health, our finances, our children, the future — there are plenty of things in life that can fill us with worry and anxiety. In fact, if we allow it to, worry can become all-consuming and drain us of our joy and effectiveness. But we are not just helpless victims destined to live in the stranglehold of fear! The Bible shows us how we can rise above our anxious thoughts and find a supernatural peace that comes only from God.
There is an underlying principle at work in the lives of men and women who are known as giants of the faith. What is that principle? Is it something unique or is it simple? Is it their great faith that that establishes them as giants of the faith, or does living by faith mean something entirely different?
Paul continues in Gal. 2:20 to explain that the life he now lives, he lives by faith. What does it mean to live life, and how is it that Paul now lives it by faith. What is faith? When we say that Christians belong to “the faith” what is being said? What is it about living a Christian life that separates that life from anyone else? How do we live by faith?
Phil Pike, our pastor, has been on medical leave for roughly six months now. Hear him describe the road he is currently walking, and his encouraging inspirational words to all Christians wherever they are in their relationship with the Lord.
“The Love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell; It goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell.” These are lyrics to a hymn by F.M. Lehman which help us broaden our scope of understanding the measureless greatness of God’s love. To know and understand that His love for us is as intense today as it was the day Jesus’ willingly gave his life for ours. We have no need to doubt the depths of God’s love, we can knowingly trust that He will receive a repentant sinner.
The Lord is good. He is the measure, the standard, the definition of “good”. Our faith must be grounded in Him, not in the world around us. Because He is good, we can know that everything he says or does is completely good; He would never do something contrary to himself. When it comes to our life of faith, do we believe that he is good even if our circumstances seem to indicate otherwise?
Knowing that God doesn’t change, we understand that He is reliable, dependable, trustworthy, truthful. He is a rock; a cornerstone or foundation stone which secures a whole building. He will be our firm foundation for the trials and storms of life, we must simply be obedient. His attitude toward sin is always the same, his attitude toward a repentant sinner is always the same. We must live our lives in humble obedience to God.
White light, shone through a glass prism, reveals all of the colors. Pure white light contains all of the colors; you do not have pure white light if you remove one of the colors or if they are out of balance. God’s attributes are like the colors in the color spectrum. If the God you know only consists of some of his attributes, do you really know who He is. You cannot accurately understand pure white light if you are missing certain colors, and you cannot accurately understand who God is, if you are missing certain attributes. If you do not know the God of “White Light”, do you actually know God … what’s stopping you?
Some people teach that God never uses pain or trials or sickness to bring about His will. While this may sound good, it is absolutely not biblical. As we will see today, God uses many things, including suffering, to bring about His purpose. The question is not whether we will face trials, but whether we will respond to them in ways that glorify God. If you are in the middle of a painful, confusing time in life right now, we pray that this message will be a great encouragement to you!
The great church in Philippi began, not through clever planning and brilliant strategy, but because of “failed” plans by a missionary team. They had planned to take the Gospel into Asia, but the Holy Spirit would not allow them to go there, and sent them instead to the city of Philippi where they were severely beaten and thrown into prison. Surely this could not be God’s will for them! Yet out of that hardship came a beautiful church. Are you learning to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading, even when His plans don’t make sense?
Have you ever laid everything on the line for something? The truth is, we all take risks in life in many different ways — going from being single to being married, deciding to have children, stepping out to pursue our dream career. But have you ever risked everything for Jesus? Have you ever intentionally laid down your entire life to live His life instead? Yes, you may have trusted Jesus with your soul… but have you ever trusted Him with your life? He said if we’re not willing to do that, we will get to the end and realize we lost everything. But if we give up our life for His, we will discover what life is really all about!
The night before Jesus went to the cross, He agonized over that step of obedience so deeply that the Bible says His soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death! He asked His Father if there was any other way, but He concluded that prayer by saying, “…not my will, but Thy will be done.” Jesus was willing to surrender His future to God because he trusted His Father completely. He let go of everything that might have held Him back from total obedience. What about you? Is there anything holding you back from fully surrendering your future to God’s will?
