1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:05,360 Jesus said, how can I describe the kingdom of God? 2 00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:07,520 What should I use to illustrate it? 3 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:11,360 It's like a mustard seed planted in the ground. 4 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:15,360 It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest 5 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:16,720 of all garden plants. 6 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:21,040 It grows long branches and birds can make nests under its shade. 7 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:25,440 Jesus used many similar stories and illustrations to teach 8 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:27,280 the people as much as they could understand. 9 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:31,120 In fact, in his public ministry, he never taught without 10 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:31,910 using parable. 11 00:00:32,860 --> 00:00:36,540 But afterward, when he was alone with his disciples, he explained 12 00:00:36,540 --> 00:00:37,500 everything to them. 13 00:00:38,460 --> 00:00:43,500 As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, let's cross to the 14 00:00:43,500 --> 00:00:44,460 other side of the lake. 15 00:00:44,860 --> 00:00:48,700 So they took Jesus in the boat and started out leaving, started 16 00:00:48,700 --> 00:00:51,900 out leaving the crowds behind, although other boats followed. 17 00:00:52,380 --> 00:00:54,620 But soon a fierce storm came up. 18 00:00:54,860 --> 00:00:58,340 High waves were breaking into the boat and began and it began to 19 00:00:58,340 --> 00:00:59,060 fill with water. 20 00:01:00,340 --> 00:01:03,700 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. 21 00:01:03,860 --> 00:01:07,060 The disciples woke him up, shouting, teacher, don't you care 22 00:01:07,060 --> 00:01:08,260 that we're going to drown? 23 00:01:09,860 --> 00:01:14,580 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, silence, 24 00:01:14,980 --> 00:01:15,620 be still. 25 00:01:17,620 --> 00:01:21,380 Suddenly the wind stopped and there was a great calm. 26 00:01:21,700 --> 00:01:24,430 Then he asked them, why are you afraid? 27 00:01:25,230 --> 00:01:27,070 Do you still have no faith? 28 00:01:28,590 --> 00:01:30,910 The disciples were absolutely terrified. 29 00:01:31,150 --> 00:01:32,270 Who is this man? 30 00:01:32,270 --> 00:01:33,310 They asked each other. 31 00:01:33,630 --> 00:01:35,950 Even the wind and the waves obey him. 32 00:01:40,350 --> 00:01:44,710 Jesus told stories to help us understand how different the kingdom 33 00:01:44,710 --> 00:01:47,630 of God is from the world we know. 34 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:54,000 To not see the world through sin's distorted eyes of a beautiful 35 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,760 world God created and has been distorted by sin, but to see it through 36 00:01:58,760 --> 00:01:59,880 the eyes of God. 37 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:04,879 And so he told these stories to help us begin to learn how to 38 00:02:04,879 --> 00:02:10,080 live and to love and to flourish in the kingdom of God, not 39 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:12,040 just in heaven, but now. 40 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,700 He often said, the kingdom of God is now. 41 00:02:16,340 --> 00:02:19,460 And so that's why we're looking at these parables is to understand 42 00:02:19,540 --> 00:02:21,700 the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God. 43 00:02:21,700 --> 00:02:24,100 He uses the words interchangeably. 44 00:02:24,500 --> 00:02:28,740 As we talked about, it's an upside down world from the world 45 00:02:28,740 --> 00:02:29,300 we understand. 46 00:02:30,020 --> 00:02:33,540 It's not just somewhat different, it's completely different 47 00:02:33,700 --> 00:02:34,420 opposite. 48 00:02:34,420 --> 00:02:40,780 Just like sin in all of its filth compared to the purity of a 49 00:02:40,780 --> 00:02:42,820 Holy God is 100% different. 50 00:02:43,570 --> 00:02:46,450 So is the kingdom of God from the world we understand. 51 00:02:47,170 --> 00:02:50,850 And so it's a process to understand this kingdom of God. 52 00:02:50,850 --> 00:02:55,810 And that's why day by day I pray we can see thee more clearly, 53 00:02:56,050 --> 00:02:59,049 love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly. 54 00:02:59,049 --> 00:03:03,170 And that's what Jesus did with the disciples as he told this story 55 00:03:03,250 --> 00:03:05,410 every day a little bit more. 56 00:03:05,810 --> 00:03:08,250 So today we're going to look at a wonderful parable. 57 00:03:08,250 --> 00:03:10,280 The parable of the mustard seed. 58 00:03:10,670 --> 00:03:13,470 Now, I wish I could hold up a mustard seed to you. 59 00:03:14,190 --> 00:03:15,950 I don't think I could hold it in my hand. 60 00:03:15,950 --> 00:03:19,070 Cause it's so tiny and you couldn't see it if I did. 61 00:03:19,310 --> 00:03:23,110 But when Jesus talked about the mustard seed to the people, they 62 00:03:23,110 --> 00:03:24,830 knew exactly what he was talking about. 63 00:03:25,230 --> 00:03:29,230 They knew a mustard seed in their agricultural culture was the 64 00:03:29,230 --> 00:03:30,830 smallest of all seeds. 65 00:03:31,310 --> 00:03:35,350 But they also knew if that mustard seed was planted and it grew, 66 00:03:35,350 --> 00:03:42,040 it grew into one the largest plants, 8 to 10ft tall, from a tiny, 67 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:42,960 tiny seed. 68 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:44,880 Jesus didn't have to explain it to them. 69 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:45,920 They knew all that. 70 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:50,440 And they knew the concept that if you take a mustard seed and plant 71 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:54,880 it, something very small becomes something really big. 72 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:58,720 Now, we find this story in two books of the Bible. 73 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:03,760 And in two different books of the Bible, we see the story. 74 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,760 You know, if you're not familiar, most of maybe are. 75 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:11,500 But if you're not, there are four gospel accounts of Jesus. 76 00:04:11,500 --> 00:04:16,500 Four of the disciples wrote the account of Jesus, Matthew, Mark, 77 00:04:16,500 --> 00:04:17,260 Luke, and John. 78 00:04:17,820 --> 00:04:21,660 And we heard today this story read from Mark. 79 00:04:21,980 --> 00:04:24,100 And Mark was kind of the reporter. 80 00:04:24,100 --> 00:04:26,540 He was kind of like a news reporter. 81 00:04:26,540 --> 00:04:27,820 Everything's really fast. 82 00:04:28,060 --> 00:04:29,180 It's succinct. 83 00:04:29,820 --> 00:04:31,980 It's just the facts kind of thing. 84 00:04:32,140 --> 00:04:37,310 And Mark's focus in his gospel is about the kingdom of God's influence 85 00:04:37,310 --> 00:04:37,950 in the world. 86 00:04:38,430 --> 00:04:41,470 Well, we also have the story in the book of Matthew. 87 00:04:41,870 --> 00:04:44,030 Now, Matthew was a tax collector. 88 00:04:44,190 --> 00:04:46,150 So Matthew was very detailed. 89 00:04:46,150 --> 00:04:48,910 And so he told more detail about the story. 90 00:04:49,790 --> 00:04:51,830 And so we have the story in the two places. 91 00:04:51,830 --> 00:04:55,310 But Jesus probably told this story many, many, many, many times. 92 00:04:55,710 --> 00:04:58,630 You see, the people in those days, they didn't write much stuff 93 00:04:58,630 --> 00:05:01,550 down because they didn't have the ability to do so. 94 00:05:01,550 --> 00:05:02,490 They didn't have the. 95 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,280 The kind of access to resources that we do. 96 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:07,040 And so it was an oral culture. 97 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:10,200 And so they would tell the same story over and over and over 98 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:11,640 until they would memorize it. 99 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:14,960 And that's why these disciples could recite it so carefully. 100 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:17,120 So Jesus had told this story many times. 101 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:18,320 So we've heard it in Mark. 102 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:21,360 I want to read it to you from Matthew because you kind of got to 103 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:25,120 put the two together to get the full of this parable that Jesus 104 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:26,320 is talking about. 105 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:30,000 He says the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed planted in the 106 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:30,320 ground. 107 00:05:30,910 --> 00:05:33,910 It's the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest 108 00:05:33,910 --> 00:05:35,070 of all garden plants. 109 00:05:35,310 --> 00:05:38,750 And it grows long branches and the birds can make nests in it. 110 00:05:39,230 --> 00:05:40,510 I tell you the truth. 111 00:05:40,830 --> 00:05:45,510 If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say 112 00:05:45,510 --> 00:05:50,670 to this mountain, move from here to there, and it would move. 113 00:05:51,390 --> 00:05:53,950 Nothing is impossible. 114 00:05:54,750 --> 00:05:57,390 Now, there are two key messages from the parable of the 115 00:05:57,390 --> 00:05:58,170 mustard seed. 116 00:05:58,640 --> 00:05:59,520 Two key messages. 117 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:04,000 The first is faith is central to the kingdom of God. 118 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:07,360 You can't become part of the kingdom of God. 119 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:11,200 You can't transform from this world to the kingdom of God world 120 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:12,320 if you don't have faith. 121 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:17,280 So faith is foundational to the kingdom of God. 122 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:21,520 We have to understand faith and how that grows in our lives in 123 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:23,200 order to be part of the kingdom of God. 124 00:06:23,850 --> 00:06:25,850 And the second point of the story is this. 125 00:06:26,010 --> 00:06:31,450 The disciples didn't understand the potential of what 126 00:06:31,610 --> 00:06:36,210 faith could do because he said, if you had the faith of mustard 127 00:06:36,210 --> 00:06:37,770 seed, you could move this mountain. 128 00:06:38,330 --> 00:06:43,210 And in this account of Mark, this happens just after they could 129 00:06:43,210 --> 00:06:46,810 not heal a young boy who was sick, and Jesus did heal him. 130 00:06:47,130 --> 00:06:49,970 And so you have these two critical factors. 131 00:06:49,970 --> 00:06:54,680 Faith is central to the kingdom of God, and faith has a potential 132 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:56,200 that we don't understand. 133 00:06:57,240 --> 00:06:59,720 Well, the part of the story, though, that gets quoted all the 134 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:02,120 time is about the mustard seed. 135 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:04,280 Faith that moves a mountain, doesn't it? 136 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:07,320 So you see that people stick it on their social media. 137 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:09,880 If I had the faith, I could move mountains. 138 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:12,360 If I had the faithful mustard seed, I could move mountains. 139 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:15,160 Nothing's impossible with God if you have faith. 140 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:19,650 And you know, I heard all that too, and for years and years I would 141 00:07:19,650 --> 00:07:20,250 hear that. 142 00:07:20,570 --> 00:07:25,770 And to be really candid with you, I said, that's not me. 143 00:07:26,890 --> 00:07:27,770 That's not me. 144 00:07:28,330 --> 00:07:31,530 I don't think I'd have the faith to say, move that from there 145 00:07:31,530 --> 00:07:34,370 to there, or to calm the seas, like Jesus said. 146 00:07:34,370 --> 00:07:35,610 I don't have that kind of faith. 147 00:07:35,930 --> 00:07:41,650 And so I'd always kind of shrink away from this parable because 148 00:07:41,650 --> 00:07:43,850 I really didn't understand it. 149 00:07:45,490 --> 00:07:52,370 The concept we often feel is put before us is I need more faith. 150 00:07:52,770 --> 00:07:56,690 If I just had more faith, I could do more for God. 151 00:07:56,770 --> 00:07:59,810 If I had more faith, I'd have a more successful life. 152 00:08:00,049 --> 00:08:02,290 If I had more faith, good things would happen. 153 00:08:02,610 --> 00:08:05,650 No, that is not at all what Jesus is saying. 154 00:08:05,650 --> 00:08:09,890 Remember, Jesus is upside down from what we often assume. 155 00:08:10,860 --> 00:08:16,620 What Jesus is saying is not just that they need. 156 00:08:16,860 --> 00:08:18,460 Not that they need more faith. 157 00:08:18,620 --> 00:08:23,020 What he's saying is these assumptions we have about faith, 158 00:08:23,100 --> 00:08:24,460 you need to put aside. 159 00:08:25,180 --> 00:08:29,060 Well, the first assumption we have about faith is that our problem 160 00:08:29,060 --> 00:08:30,300 is our lack of effort. 161 00:08:30,860 --> 00:08:35,740 If we put more effort into a difficulty, if we just tried harder 162 00:08:35,870 --> 00:08:38,900 and in the name of God, then we do better. 163 00:08:40,420 --> 00:08:42,660 And that's not at all what the parable is saying. 164 00:08:42,660 --> 00:08:46,100 But I think we feel that way when we hit roadblocks. 165 00:08:46,100 --> 00:08:49,740 So we have difficulties and our assumption is we don't have enough 166 00:08:49,740 --> 00:08:50,180 faith. 167 00:08:50,900 --> 00:08:53,780 Or maybe our problem is getting stronger. 168 00:08:54,020 --> 00:08:57,860 If I was just a stronger Christian, these difficulties wouldn't 169 00:08:57,860 --> 00:08:58,140 be there. 170 00:08:58,140 --> 00:09:01,300 If I was just a stronger Christian, God could use me to move 171 00:09:01,300 --> 00:09:01,770 mountains. 172 00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:04,320 And that's not what Jesus is saying. 173 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:06,480 But we take on that assumption. 174 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:09,280 The third is our problem is. 175 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:11,200 Excuse me. 176 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:14,000 Our problem is not needing more faith. 177 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:16,160 Excuse me, is needing more faith. 178 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:18,240 I got an extra knot in there. 179 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:19,040 Sorry about that. 180 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:21,520 Our problem is needing more faith. 181 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:26,480 If I just had more faith, then I could do great things for God. 182 00:09:27,690 --> 00:09:31,610 If I had more faith, my dad wouldn't be sick because I could 183 00:09:31,610 --> 00:09:33,210 pray and God would heal him. 184 00:09:34,490 --> 00:09:38,930 If I had more faith, I could get into the graduate school I really 185 00:09:38,930 --> 00:09:42,290 want to get into, but because I didn't get in, I didn't have enough 186 00:09:42,290 --> 00:09:42,730 faith. 187 00:09:43,450 --> 00:09:47,690 And we could pretty quickly be beat down by the devil with these 188 00:09:47,770 --> 00:09:50,490 assumptions that are not true. 189 00:09:51,370 --> 00:09:53,940 There's something wrong with me that. 190 00:09:54,010 --> 00:09:58,490 That I don't have enough faith is how we often respond to this issue 191 00:09:59,210 --> 00:10:03,290 of I could move mountains if I had the faith of mustard seed. 192 00:10:03,290 --> 00:10:08,530 When we see difficulties and struggle, we focus on how we didn't 193 00:10:08,530 --> 00:10:11,730 have enough effort, we didn't have enough strength, we didn't have 194 00:10:11,730 --> 00:10:12,250 enough faith. 195 00:10:12,250 --> 00:10:16,250 And that is not at all what Jesus is saying in this parable. 196 00:10:16,330 --> 00:10:18,330 He's saying the exact opposite. 197 00:10:20,260 --> 00:10:21,460 So what did he really say? 198 00:10:22,900 --> 00:10:25,780 It isn't about the size of your faith. 199 00:10:26,420 --> 00:10:28,980 It's about the object of your faith. 200 00:10:31,140 --> 00:10:31,780 Got that? 201 00:10:32,100 --> 00:10:34,580 It's not about the size of your faith. 202 00:10:34,740 --> 00:10:38,100 It's about the object of your faith, who your faith is in. 203 00:10:39,300 --> 00:10:42,820 Jesus isn't trying to get us to have more faith. 204 00:10:43,380 --> 00:10:44,580 He says if you. 205 00:10:45,130 --> 00:10:48,250 He doesn't say, go get more mustard seeds. 206 00:10:48,330 --> 00:10:51,770 And if you had a handful of mustard seeds, you could move a mountain. 207 00:10:52,010 --> 00:10:59,130 He says, no, if you have one tiny, tiny mustard seed, it will 208 00:10:59,130 --> 00:11:00,330 grow into something big. 209 00:11:02,410 --> 00:11:07,330 God's telling us if we will take whatever faith we have, any 210 00:11:07,330 --> 00:11:12,210 faith, if it's genuine, and connect it to the unlimited power 211 00:11:12,210 --> 00:11:12,890 of God. 212 00:11:13,130 --> 00:11:15,470 God can do amazing things. 213 00:11:16,430 --> 00:11:17,950 He could take what's small. 214 00:11:18,350 --> 00:11:21,710 If your faith is small, if your faith is undeveloped, he can 215 00:11:21,710 --> 00:11:22,190 take that. 216 00:11:22,190 --> 00:11:25,070 If your faith is untested, he can take that. 217 00:11:26,430 --> 00:11:33,950 It's all about dependence on him, not how much faith we can generate 218 00:11:33,950 --> 00:11:34,990 in our spirit. 219 00:11:37,630 --> 00:11:44,650 Faith in the power of God, not Faith in God to use me. 220 00:11:45,850 --> 00:11:46,970 But what is faith? 221 00:11:47,530 --> 00:11:49,290 Well, we have a great definition of faith. 222 00:11:49,290 --> 00:11:50,730 It's in Hebrews chapter 11. 223 00:11:51,690 --> 00:11:52,890 And it reads like this. 224 00:11:53,050 --> 00:11:53,930 Faith is a. 225 00:11:53,930 --> 00:12:00,090 Confidence is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about 226 00:12:00,250 --> 00:12:01,850 what we do not see. 227 00:12:03,610 --> 00:12:05,450 Genuine faith changes everything. 228 00:12:07,540 --> 00:12:10,260 When you have confidence and when you have assurance. 229 00:12:12,100 --> 00:12:13,500 Genuine faith changes everything. 230 00:12:13,500 --> 00:12:17,060 It changes our level of trust, it changes our hope, it changes our 231 00:12:17,060 --> 00:12:19,780 outlook, it changes our relationships. 232 00:12:21,380 --> 00:12:24,340 Now, in my life, I've been to Disney World too many times. 233 00:12:24,980 --> 00:12:26,020 My kids love it. 234 00:12:26,180 --> 00:12:27,420 They loved it growing up. 235 00:12:27,420 --> 00:12:28,140 They still love it. 236 00:12:28,140 --> 00:12:28,900 They're in their 30s. 237 00:12:28,900 --> 00:12:29,700 They still love it. 238 00:12:30,020 --> 00:12:32,130 We don't go back as often, which is good because. 239 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:34,040 Because Disney's got way too much of my money. 240 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:37,560 But when I go to Disney, I gotta tell you, after being there 241 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:39,080 a lot of times, it's kind of boring. 242 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:40,600 It really is. 243 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:43,160 Because, I mean, how many times can you ride Pooh Bear? 244 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:43,640 I like it. 245 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:47,080 But, you know, so you're standing in line, you're watching. 246 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:50,520 And so when I go to Disney and I don't get around small kids very 247 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:53,000 often, I work with college students, so I don't get around little 248 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:53,720 kids very often. 249 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:57,720 When I go to college, to Disney, I'm always fascinated by 250 00:12:57,720 --> 00:12:59,000 watching the families. 251 00:12:59,990 --> 00:13:03,830 And you look at these kids, you know, they're three, four, five, 252 00:13:03,910 --> 00:13:05,430 six years, seven years old. 253 00:13:06,870 --> 00:13:12,390 And I watch them with their parents and I realize how totally 254 00:13:12,630 --> 00:13:14,790 dependent they are on their parents. 255 00:13:15,830 --> 00:13:20,630 Their faith for their entire life is put in that dad. 256 00:13:21,670 --> 00:13:25,660 Their confidence for everything that they have is put 257 00:13:25,660 --> 00:13:26,420 in that Mom. 258 00:13:27,540 --> 00:13:33,300 And without faith, if you took that away, those kids have nothing. 259 00:13:34,020 --> 00:13:34,420 Zero. 260 00:13:36,500 --> 00:13:40,020 Well, as a child of God, the same is true with us. 261 00:13:40,899 --> 00:13:43,700 When we have that kind of relationship with God. 262 00:13:43,860 --> 00:13:48,020 So we are so completely dependent on him that without him 263 00:13:48,180 --> 00:13:49,540 we have nothing. 264 00:13:51,150 --> 00:13:56,510 That's when faith the size of a mustard seed moves mountains. 265 00:13:57,470 --> 00:13:59,550 That's what Hebrews 11 is talking about. 266 00:13:59,870 --> 00:14:04,430 That level of confidence, that level of assurance. 267 00:14:05,150 --> 00:14:07,630 So look at this, a little bit more detail. 268 00:14:08,190 --> 00:14:12,030 First of all, it talks about the confidence in God's promises. 269 00:14:12,670 --> 00:14:16,750 Are we confident that what God is saying is true? 270 00:14:17,680 --> 00:14:18,880 Not wishful thinking? 271 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:20,400 I really hope it's true. 272 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:23,720 I really hope what Jesus is all about is really true. 273 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:25,040 And I really hope there's a heaven. 274 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:26,160 And I really hope that. 275 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:29,840 No, it is confidence that that is true. 276 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:34,400 Faith is confidence in what we hope for. 277 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:38,000 It's not wishful thinking because it's confidence. 278 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:38,720 Get this. 279 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:40,240 Clearly get this. 280 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:43,050 It's confidence in God's character. 281 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:43,440 Character. 282 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:47,680 It's not confidence in a bunch of rewards. 283 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:49,600 And prizes and tokens. 284 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,640 It's confidence in God's character. 285 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:57,240 And when we have confidence in God's character, that's when we begin 286 00:14:57,240 --> 00:15:00,720 to have faith, assurance. 287 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:04,400 Assurance that the invisible is real. 288 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:10,640 The assurance about what we do not see that the invisible is real. 289 00:15:11,500 --> 00:15:13,580 God's presence is real. 290 00:15:13,740 --> 00:15:15,060 His leading is real. 291 00:15:15,060 --> 00:15:16,300 His sovereignty is real. 292 00:15:16,380 --> 00:15:20,380 Eternity is real, even though you can't see it. 293 00:15:21,900 --> 00:15:25,740 Every single one of us believes electricity is real. 294 00:15:26,220 --> 00:15:30,380 We plug in our stuff, we would never think that it wouldn't work. 295 00:15:31,340 --> 00:15:32,620 But you haven't seen it. 296 00:15:33,580 --> 00:15:34,620 I haven't seen it. 297 00:15:36,060 --> 00:15:40,490 But it's real because we have faith through. 298 00:15:40,490 --> 00:15:43,930 When we go over to that plug and we plug in, it's going to work. 299 00:15:45,130 --> 00:15:49,450 That's assurance about what we do not see. 300 00:15:50,170 --> 00:15:53,930 And then faith is about active trust. 301 00:15:54,650 --> 00:15:55,690 Active trust. 302 00:15:56,010 --> 00:15:57,970 It's not just a theoretical trust. 303 00:15:57,970 --> 00:15:58,810 Yeah, I've got faith. 304 00:15:58,810 --> 00:15:59,770 I really believe in God. 305 00:16:00,090 --> 00:16:02,170 No, it's acting on that faith. 306 00:16:02,170 --> 00:16:07,370 You know, I mean, I got this chair back here that I sit in during 307 00:16:07,370 --> 00:16:08,010 chapel. 308 00:16:08,650 --> 00:16:10,730 Kind of heavy, but I think I can move it a little bit. 309 00:16:12,170 --> 00:16:14,810 And I could have faith that this chair will hold me. 310 00:16:16,650 --> 00:16:19,530 I could have faith that those legs are solid. 311 00:16:19,610 --> 00:16:21,610 And I could have faith this is built right. 312 00:16:21,610 --> 00:16:23,610 And I could have faith that's built for me. 313 00:16:23,930 --> 00:16:27,410 But, you know, until I come over here and I actually sit in the 314 00:16:27,410 --> 00:16:31,140 chair and I take my feet off the ground, there is no active faith. 315 00:16:32,740 --> 00:16:35,300 Faith has to be acted on. 316 00:16:36,340 --> 00:16:41,300 James said, without works, faith is dead. 317 00:16:41,380 --> 00:16:45,580 Excuse me, without faith, faith without works is dead. 318 00:16:45,580 --> 00:16:46,740 Let me get that correct. 319 00:16:46,980 --> 00:16:48,900 Faith without works is dead. 320 00:16:48,900 --> 00:16:50,100 That's what James said. 321 00:16:50,260 --> 00:16:53,460 You've got to have works to express your faith. 322 00:16:53,540 --> 00:16:56,180 Now, that doesn't mean your works will get you salvation. 323 00:16:57,030 --> 00:17:02,390 No, your works give you growth, to trust God more and more. 324 00:17:03,430 --> 00:17:06,990 And every time I sit in the chair, I know every time it's going 325 00:17:06,990 --> 00:17:08,950 to come through and faith grows. 326 00:17:08,950 --> 00:17:11,670 Faith is not a leap in the dark. 327 00:17:12,870 --> 00:17:17,270 It's a step into the light of the kingdom of God. 328 00:17:18,950 --> 00:17:19,670 Got that? 329 00:17:20,390 --> 00:17:23,030 Faith is not a leap into the dark. 330 00:17:23,190 --> 00:17:27,780 It's a step into the light of the kingdom of God. 331 00:17:29,700 --> 00:17:32,020 You had the faith of this mustard seed. 332 00:17:32,740 --> 00:17:35,140 You could move mountains from here to there. 333 00:17:36,340 --> 00:17:38,780 But, you know, there's a tendency to think about that and 334 00:17:38,780 --> 00:17:41,300 go, man, that's kind of superpower. 335 00:17:42,420 --> 00:17:44,420 That's kind of a Marvel movie. 336 00:17:44,580 --> 00:17:45,940 You watch Marvel movies? 337 00:17:47,140 --> 00:17:48,620 My son took me to Superman. 338 00:17:48,620 --> 00:17:49,540 It was pretty good. 339 00:17:51,070 --> 00:17:55,870 It's not Superpower, like a Marvel movie. 340 00:17:56,830 --> 00:18:04,270 Faith is not about what I can do, but about who God is. 341 00:18:04,350 --> 00:18:07,790 As my loving Father, that's what faith is. 342 00:18:08,590 --> 00:18:11,830 So when he's talking about moving mountains, he's not talking 343 00:18:11,830 --> 00:18:13,150 about physical mountains. 344 00:18:13,150 --> 00:18:16,230 Nobody he talked to that day when he told these stories assumed 345 00:18:16,230 --> 00:18:17,220 it was physical mountains. 346 00:18:18,090 --> 00:18:21,690 Mountains were a metaphor for obstacles. 347 00:18:22,170 --> 00:18:25,570 The common figure of speech in those days, you know, I got to move 348 00:18:25,570 --> 00:18:26,090 that mountain. 349 00:18:26,250 --> 00:18:28,170 It doesn't mean you're going to actually move it. 350 00:18:28,250 --> 00:18:31,370 It's got to mean you've got an obstacle you got to overcome. 351 00:18:31,690 --> 00:18:34,050 Just like Jesus said, you know, there's a log in your eye. 352 00:18:34,050 --> 00:18:37,290 He didn't mean an actual piece of wood in your eye. 353 00:18:37,610 --> 00:18:39,130 He said you're the light of the world. 354 00:18:39,130 --> 00:18:40,490 He didn't mean you're a candle. 355 00:18:42,250 --> 00:18:43,530 Metaphors that he'd often use. 356 00:18:43,530 --> 00:18:46,170 So when he says mountains, he's talking about the obstacles 357 00:18:46,170 --> 00:18:46,810 in our lives. 358 00:18:46,890 --> 00:18:49,120 Those impossible things that feel overwhel. 359 00:18:49,270 --> 00:18:53,590 Foaming and mountains, the obstacles of our life. 360 00:18:54,150 --> 00:18:58,230 You tend to travel around them because you don't want to go over 361 00:18:58,230 --> 00:18:58,550 them. 362 00:18:58,550 --> 00:19:00,310 Or they limit where you can live. 363 00:19:00,390 --> 00:19:04,630 Or in those days where you could farm, they have to be accommodated. 364 00:19:04,630 --> 00:19:05,590 They're not moved. 365 00:19:06,790 --> 00:19:08,790 Or you can become frustrated by them. 366 00:19:08,950 --> 00:19:11,590 And you become combative with the obstacles of life. 367 00:19:11,590 --> 00:19:13,030 And there are a lot of people who do that. 368 00:19:13,030 --> 00:19:16,880 They just live angry because they're fighting all the obstacles. 369 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:22,080 Too often our lives are about accommodating obstacles. 370 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:30,960 Instead of having faith that God will lead us through, over, around, 371 00:19:31,360 --> 00:19:32,480 or he'll move them. 372 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:36,800 When you get hit with a difficulty, you got to know a few 373 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:37,120 things. 374 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:43,170 When you're hit with that hard problem, you got to know a few things. 375 00:19:43,170 --> 00:19:45,970 First of all, God wants the very best for you. 376 00:19:46,210 --> 00:19:50,770 He created you, he loves you, and he wants the very best for you. 377 00:19:51,170 --> 00:19:56,050 Secondly, God is using the things in your life to either prepare 378 00:19:56,050 --> 00:19:57,649 you or protect you. 379 00:19:58,130 --> 00:19:59,010 One of the two. 380 00:19:59,650 --> 00:20:01,690 He's either preparing you for what's ahead. 381 00:20:01,690 --> 00:20:02,690 He's getting you tougher. 382 00:20:02,770 --> 00:20:05,770 He's getting you experience, he's getting you insight that you 383 00:20:05,770 --> 00:20:06,490 can handle more. 384 00:20:06,490 --> 00:20:06,910 What's on going. 385 00:20:07,460 --> 00:20:11,340 Or he's protecting you from something horrible and we don't know 386 00:20:11,340 --> 00:20:11,620 which. 387 00:20:12,260 --> 00:20:15,380 And thirdly, you gotta know you are a child of God. 388 00:20:15,700 --> 00:20:18,340 Just like those little kids at Disney World. 389 00:20:19,380 --> 00:20:20,980 They look up to those parents. 390 00:20:21,300 --> 00:20:24,100 That's everything in their life. 391 00:20:25,140 --> 00:20:25,540 Everything. 392 00:20:26,340 --> 00:20:30,260 You and I have that same relationship with God. 393 00:20:30,340 --> 00:20:31,460 We are his children. 394 00:20:31,460 --> 00:20:36,830 He says that you're a child of God and so we can have faith in his 395 00:20:36,830 --> 00:20:40,270 outcome for the obstacles of life, whatever they are. 396 00:20:41,710 --> 00:20:43,230 So how do you build that faith? 397 00:20:44,030 --> 00:20:46,510 How do you build that kind of faith? 398 00:20:46,510 --> 00:20:47,190 I want to tell You. 399 00:20:47,190 --> 00:20:50,510 It takes some time and it takes some practice to build that 400 00:20:50,510 --> 00:20:50,910 faith. 401 00:20:51,150 --> 00:20:52,030 It really does. 402 00:20:52,030 --> 00:20:53,550 It doesn't happen overnight. 403 00:20:53,870 --> 00:20:55,710 It doesn't happen by sheer grit. 404 00:20:56,030 --> 00:21:02,280 It happens by experience and by testing and by exercising that 405 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:03,080 faith. 406 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:07,440 So I want to give you today three really practical examples for 407 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:09,080 how to grow faith in your life. 408 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:11,800 Now, these are the things that I do, okay? 409 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:13,240 They may not work for everybody. 410 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:16,040 They really work for me, and I've been doing them for years. 411 00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:18,840 And they really have helped me in my faith. 412 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:23,600 I had somebody yesterday, we were dealing with a challenging issue 413 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:26,510 at school, and one of my board members, I was having lunch with 414 00:21:26,510 --> 00:21:26,590 him. 415 00:21:26,590 --> 00:21:28,990 He said, I don't know how you carry what you do. 416 00:21:29,950 --> 00:21:31,310 I said, I don't. 417 00:21:31,870 --> 00:21:32,590 God does. 418 00:21:32,830 --> 00:21:33,950 It's pretty easy. 419 00:21:34,590 --> 00:21:35,630 God's got this. 420 00:21:36,590 --> 00:21:42,430 When you have faith that gets built up over time and experience, 421 00:21:43,390 --> 00:21:46,550 you can handle more and more and more. 422 00:21:46,550 --> 00:21:49,150 So I want to give you three things that I do. 423 00:21:49,150 --> 00:21:50,350 They may not help for you. 424 00:21:50,350 --> 00:21:51,910 They may be applicable for you. 425 00:21:51,910 --> 00:21:55,380 I hope they might be, because for in my life, they have helped 426 00:21:55,380 --> 00:21:58,220 me to develop faith through the years. 427 00:21:58,220 --> 00:22:03,260 The first one is this, and it's in the concept of what happens 428 00:22:03,260 --> 00:22:05,060 when a problem develop. 429 00:22:05,220 --> 00:22:07,540 A difficulty develops you didn't see coming. 430 00:22:07,620 --> 00:22:12,460 And it builds up and it builds up until it's really blocking things 431 00:22:12,460 --> 00:22:13,140 for the future. 432 00:22:13,860 --> 00:22:16,140 I use the example of log jams. 433 00:22:16,140 --> 00:22:17,940 Now, I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. 434 00:22:18,020 --> 00:22:20,620 I think there are a couple of people here from Seattle and Portland. 435 00:22:20,620 --> 00:22:21,540 You understand this. 436 00:22:22,330 --> 00:22:24,970 But in the Pacific Northwest, when I was growing up in the 60s 437 00:22:24,970 --> 00:22:29,450 and 70s, the loggers would cut down the trees up in the mountains, 438 00:22:29,770 --> 00:22:33,370 and they'd drag them down to the edge of the river and they would 439 00:22:33,370 --> 00:22:34,330 lash them together. 440 00:22:34,490 --> 00:22:35,770 Kind of like this picture. 441 00:22:36,010 --> 00:22:39,210 They'd lash them together, and then they would let them float down 442 00:22:39,210 --> 00:22:42,210 the river because that was a lot cheaper than trying to move them 443 00:22:42,210 --> 00:22:42,890 in trucks. 444 00:22:43,130 --> 00:22:45,650 And in those days, they didn't have the level of trucks that they 445 00:22:45,650 --> 00:22:46,890 have now and all that stuff. 446 00:22:46,970 --> 00:22:52,440 And so they would put these big, huge logs in the river and then 447 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:55,240 float them down, and then they take them out down below and take 448 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:56,880 them to the sawmill and all that kind of thing. 449 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:01,800 Well, every once in a while, those logs would get jammed up and 450 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:03,040 they called it a log jam. 451 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:06,480 And that's an actual log jam from a river where I didn't live 452 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:09,680 very far from in Oregon about the time that I was growing up. 453 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:13,360 Those logs would come down and they just get stuck. 454 00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:15,840 One would hit a rock and another one would hit another log, 455 00:23:16,120 --> 00:23:21,560 and they just get Stuck, and they get big and it gets overwhelming. 456 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:24,600 And sometimes in life, we hit log jams. 457 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,240 That's why we use the phrase, I'm jammed up. 458 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:32,760 We hit log jams where things just get difficult, things get hard 459 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:38,600 and it gets built up and a problem becomes consuming, and we 460 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:40,200 want to do something about it. 461 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:42,200 So what can we do? 462 00:23:43,050 --> 00:23:44,010 There's three options. 463 00:23:44,570 --> 00:23:46,010 Three options you can do. 464 00:23:46,650 --> 00:23:54,850 The first option is you can go in there like the loggers used to 465 00:23:54,850 --> 00:23:57,690 do, and you can try to clear the log jam. 466 00:23:58,970 --> 00:24:03,850 They would go in there with these big iron bars 12ft long. 467 00:24:04,170 --> 00:24:08,210 They get out on the logs and they would try to move them to get 468 00:24:08,210 --> 00:24:09,770 the logs to unjam. 469 00:24:10,780 --> 00:24:14,300 Now, you can do that when you've got a problem, but it's dangerous. 470 00:24:15,100 --> 00:24:19,140 If you get your foot caught between one of those logs, you're 471 00:24:19,140 --> 00:24:19,980 going to lose your foot. 472 00:24:21,100 --> 00:24:24,700 You could easily lose your life if you got caught down in that 473 00:24:24,700 --> 00:24:25,420 log jam. 474 00:24:25,819 --> 00:24:28,940 And there are a lot of people, when they hit log jams in life, they 475 00:24:28,940 --> 00:24:30,940 just want to go in and fix it. 476 00:24:30,940 --> 00:24:35,740 They want to get a crowbar and a big bar and try to move the impossible 477 00:24:36,510 --> 00:24:41,310 to get it fixed, and they get hurt more often than not. 478 00:24:43,550 --> 00:24:44,470 You can do that. 479 00:24:44,470 --> 00:24:45,470 That's option one. 480 00:24:46,190 --> 00:24:49,870 Option two, when you hit a log jam is you can blow it up. 481 00:24:50,430 --> 00:24:51,790 Literally blow it up. 482 00:24:52,109 --> 00:24:56,310 They go out in these big log jams, they stick dynamite in there 483 00:24:56,310 --> 00:24:57,870 and they just blow it up. 484 00:24:58,990 --> 00:25:02,430 Now, you could do that, and it may clear the log jam, but you don't 485 00:25:02,430 --> 00:25:03,790 know what the damage is going to be. 486 00:25:04,850 --> 00:25:07,490 And there are a lot of people, when they hit problems in life and 487 00:25:07,490 --> 00:25:10,770 difficulties in life, they just go in and they blow stuff up. 488 00:25:11,810 --> 00:25:13,610 And so what if there's collateral damage? 489 00:25:13,610 --> 00:25:14,570 So what if they hurt their friends? 490 00:25:14,570 --> 00:25:15,650 So what if they hurt their family? 491 00:25:15,890 --> 00:25:18,730 I've got to take care of my problem now, and we're going to blow 492 00:25:18,730 --> 00:25:21,490 this thing up because that's what I want to do. 493 00:25:22,530 --> 00:25:26,210 So you can do that, but there's a lot of risk in that one. 494 00:25:26,930 --> 00:25:32,740 The third thing you can do is have the faith to wait and let God 495 00:25:32,740 --> 00:25:33,340 solve it. 496 00:25:34,220 --> 00:25:39,980 And my experience has been in a log jam, those logs will rub against 497 00:25:39,980 --> 00:25:41,180 each other for a while. 498 00:25:42,140 --> 00:25:44,380 It doesn't look like they're moving much, but they are. 499 00:25:45,100 --> 00:25:47,980 And they're starting to break up just a little bit here and there 500 00:25:48,140 --> 00:25:51,500 as you wait and you're patient and you let God solve it. 501 00:25:51,900 --> 00:25:56,690 And after a while, I have found that log jams nearly always 502 00:25:56,850 --> 00:25:57,890 clear themselves. 503 00:25:58,450 --> 00:26:00,370 Nearly always clear themselves. 504 00:26:00,370 --> 00:26:04,130 If you have the faith to trust God and to wait. 505 00:26:05,090 --> 00:26:08,650 And in my problem solving with the university family, whatever it 506 00:26:08,650 --> 00:26:13,330 may be, I try to take that approach because the first one is 507 00:26:13,330 --> 00:26:16,370 very dangerous and the second one's very unpredictable. 508 00:26:16,770 --> 00:26:20,930 But when you have faith that God will clear the log jams of your 509 00:26:20,930 --> 00:26:25,050 life and you're patient, it won't come in the time you think 510 00:26:25,050 --> 00:26:25,410 it will. 511 00:26:25,410 --> 00:26:26,770 It'll take longer. 512 00:26:27,010 --> 00:26:31,850 But if you're patient, God will eventually kill the log jams. 513 00:26:31,850 --> 00:26:34,090 Because why does God want you to be all jammed up? 514 00:26:34,090 --> 00:26:38,850 He doesn't, but he's doing something in order to shape, protect 515 00:26:39,410 --> 00:26:40,450 or prepare you. 516 00:26:40,930 --> 00:26:42,330 So that's the first thing I do. 517 00:26:42,330 --> 00:26:46,130 I try to have the patience when difficulties come, to wait and 518 00:26:46,130 --> 00:26:50,270 to trust God and to wait for the log jam to rub against itself 519 00:26:50,270 --> 00:26:52,000 and, and to be able to clear the way. 520 00:26:53,360 --> 00:27:00,960 The second thing that I do that's helpful to me is that when 521 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:06,320 I'm overwhelmed by stuff, when I've got a lot of worries, when I 522 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:11,120 got a lot of things that are really frustrating or consuming, 523 00:27:13,120 --> 00:27:18,590 and I can take time to sit down and write out that list, medical 524 00:27:18,590 --> 00:27:26,030 problem or issue with, you know, some employee or a new program 525 00:27:26,030 --> 00:27:29,550 we're starting or whatever it may be, I'll write down that list. 526 00:27:29,550 --> 00:27:32,590 What are all the things that have me anxious? 527 00:27:33,470 --> 00:27:37,150 If you can write down the list of things that have you anxious, 528 00:27:37,950 --> 00:27:42,830 put them on a paper and say, God, I trust you. 529 00:27:44,210 --> 00:27:48,610 I have faith that you will take care of me because I'm your 530 00:27:48,610 --> 00:27:48,930 child. 531 00:27:49,810 --> 00:27:52,930 And so I'm going to really put that faith into action. 532 00:27:53,330 --> 00:27:56,290 I'm actually going to sit on the chair, I'm going to take that 533 00:27:56,290 --> 00:27:58,370 list and here's what I do. 534 00:27:58,610 --> 00:27:59,970 You can do it how you want to. 535 00:28:00,450 --> 00:28:04,890 I take that list and I put it in my Bible because I know I'll find 536 00:28:04,890 --> 00:28:05,570 it there later. 537 00:28:06,290 --> 00:28:09,370 So I take the list of things that I'm really worried about, the 538 00:28:09,370 --> 00:28:12,090 things I make you sober, the things I'm overwhelmed by, the things 539 00:28:12,090 --> 00:28:13,370 that need to be solved. 540 00:28:13,930 --> 00:28:17,050 I'll write the list down, I'll put it in the Bible and I'll wait. 541 00:28:18,410 --> 00:28:22,050 And I usually go back to that list about four to five, six months 542 00:28:22,050 --> 00:28:22,410 later. 543 00:28:22,890 --> 00:28:25,730 And almost every time, and I've been doing this for years and 544 00:28:25,730 --> 00:28:30,170 years and years, almost every time, every single thing in that 545 00:28:30,170 --> 00:28:31,370 list God has solved. 546 00:28:32,090 --> 00:28:35,850 Not solved how I thought it was going to be solved, not always 547 00:28:35,850 --> 00:28:40,220 in the timing I thought, but everything on the list went off the 548 00:28:40,220 --> 00:28:40,540 list. 549 00:28:41,260 --> 00:28:42,140 And you know what? 550 00:28:42,780 --> 00:28:43,900 I got a new list. 551 00:28:44,780 --> 00:28:50,700 I got a new list of stuff that's Overwhelming and stuff that's 552 00:28:50,940 --> 00:28:54,060 burdening and stuff that makes me worry. 553 00:28:54,780 --> 00:28:57,420 And so I write that one down and I start a new list. 554 00:28:57,580 --> 00:29:01,740 And the same thing happens over and over and over again. 555 00:29:02,060 --> 00:29:05,220 When you do that, when you trust God, when you have the faith 556 00:29:05,220 --> 00:29:06,140 that he will do that. 557 00:29:06,340 --> 00:29:09,540 See, every time you're going through this process, it builds your 558 00:29:09,540 --> 00:29:10,020 faith. 559 00:29:10,660 --> 00:29:15,620 And then it just gets easier and easier to have faith of a mustard 560 00:29:15,620 --> 00:29:18,100 seed that grows into something significant. 561 00:29:18,980 --> 00:29:22,980 Well, the last one is this, and I think this one's important, 562 00:29:23,060 --> 00:29:26,020 especially in today's culture where things are so uncertain. 563 00:29:26,020 --> 00:29:28,020 There's an awful lot of uncertainty about the future. 564 00:29:28,980 --> 00:29:33,750 When I'm looking ahead of what's ahead, it's overwhelming, 565 00:29:33,750 --> 00:29:34,270 isn't it? 566 00:29:34,910 --> 00:29:38,910 There's so much stuff, there's so many obstacles, there's so much 567 00:29:38,910 --> 00:29:40,830 unknown, there's so many dangers. 568 00:29:40,910 --> 00:29:45,630 When I look at the path of the future and where I got to go to get 569 00:29:45,630 --> 00:29:49,310 from here to there, to lead this university, to help my family 570 00:29:49,550 --> 00:29:55,470 to do all the things that need to happen, it feels absolutely overwhelming. 571 00:29:56,830 --> 00:30:01,700 The only way that I can do that is by regularly looking back. 572 00:30:02,740 --> 00:30:07,100 And when I look back at the path where God has brought me, and 573 00:30:07,100 --> 00:30:11,220 I can see the trail of how God brought me through the mountains, 574 00:30:11,220 --> 00:30:16,100 around the mountains, over the mountains, moved the mountains, I 575 00:30:16,100 --> 00:30:24,100 can look back and say, wow, God really is leading me. 576 00:30:25,630 --> 00:30:29,030 And then when I turn back to look at the future where I want to 577 00:30:29,030 --> 00:30:30,750 say, yikes, how are we going to make it? 578 00:30:31,710 --> 00:30:36,030 I change that into a wow, God, you've got this thing. 579 00:30:36,910 --> 00:30:37,710 You've got it. 580 00:30:38,110 --> 00:30:40,510 I've got faith that you will lead it. 581 00:30:40,590 --> 00:30:43,310 Because I can look back and see where you've led it. 582 00:30:43,550 --> 00:30:49,310 And although this is scary, that's confidence building, that's 583 00:30:49,310 --> 00:30:53,240 assurance, and that's what faith is. 584 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:56,760 Look back in order to look ahead. 585 00:30:57,320 --> 00:30:59,720 Because if you only look ahead, you're going to be overwhelmed. 586 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:02,280 You won't have the faith to walk forward. 587 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:07,560 It's in looking back where you get the faith to trust God for what's 588 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:08,280 ahead. 589 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:18,210 Hold on to what God will do as well as what he's already done. 590 00:31:19,170 --> 00:31:22,850 And don't let temporary struggles define you. 591 00:31:24,050 --> 00:31:28,930 Let God promises shape you and shape your identity. 592 00:31:29,330 --> 00:31:32,850 You see, it's all about dependence. 593 00:31:34,290 --> 00:31:36,050 It's not about your faith. 594 00:31:36,050 --> 00:31:39,730 If your faith is genuine, even if it's the size of a mustard seed, 595 00:31:39,730 --> 00:31:45,180 which you can't even see if it's genuine, God will use it. 596 00:31:45,820 --> 00:31:48,300 It's all about dependence. 597 00:31:48,940 --> 00:31:56,460 Faith looks forward with hope because of who our faith is in. 598 00:31:58,060 --> 00:31:58,940 Let's pray together. 599 00:31:58,940 --> 00:31:59,900 Our benediction. 600 00:32:00,380 --> 00:32:03,180 No eye is seen, no ear is heard. 601 00:32:03,500 --> 00:32:07,740 No mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. 602 00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:08,880 God bless. 603 00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:09,720 Have a good day.