WELCOME
Good morning First Baptist. We welcome you to worship this morning. Be sure to remember your brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the week as you pray for them, and as the Holy Spirit brings their faces to your mind. Be sure to also connect with them in the ways that are possible. And if you have any questions or would like to talk to someone, please don’t hesitate to contact the church through the church telephone and leave a message. (519-733-4144)
Songs
Call to Worship
Those who trust in God are like the mountains, immovable and abiding.
God shelters the people: today and for eternity.
Rich or poor, God creates us to pursue justice and to care for one another. Be a blessing, O God, to those who are good and upright in heart. God calls us to be rich in faith, to honour our heritage as heirs of the Kingdom. We are blessed when we share our blessings, that peace may be upon the people.
GOOD MORNING FBK & WELCOME TO WORSHIP!
Songs
Prayer
Prayer of Confession & Assurance
The act of confessing our sin is not simply a recitation of our faults and wrongs, but also an opportunity to receive God’s mercy and share in that abundant grace. Confident of God’s love for us, let us offer our prayers, first in silence.
SILENT PRAYER
Gracious God, we come before you today knowing that we often fall short of your call to love one another well. We allow ourselves to be blinded by wealth and power. We ignore those around us who suffer injustice, poverty, and rejection. We tune out the cries of the poor and those on the edges of our communities. Help us to see your great generosity, hear your word of mercy, and feel your great love for all who need your redemptive grace. Strengthen us to reach out in service to those who are in need. Make us aware of those outside our own communities, that we may see them as your precious children and serve them in humility and joy. May we continue to grow in grace as we learn how to serve you in the name of the great Servant, even Jesus Christ. Amen.
Words of Assurance (1 Corinthians 2:12)
We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God. May we understand the grace and forgiveness bestowed upon us by God, that others may find the Kingdom within us and among us.
Made New
Faith in Action
Today's Message: Pastors Marlee Page and Dave Page
Today we finish up our series called Made New.
We have been talking about all of the powerful ways that the resurrection of Jesus changes our lives. The first week of this series we learned that it is our faith in Christ that transforms us into the people that God wants us to be. We confess with our mouth and believe with our hearts that he is God. Two weeks ago, we discovered that because of the grace of God we can move past our past. Our sins and mistakes do not have the last word and final say, Jesus does. Last week, we took a look at another part of the far-reaching effects of the resurrection – When God makes us new, we become a part of his family.
For our final week of this series we will find that when God makes us new, we are meant to show His love by putting our faith into action and serving the world around us.
Now, there is one important step in the faith process that is demonstrated in the story of our lives.
POINT #1 – TRUE FAITH REQUIRES ACTION
The Gospel of Luke offers us an incredible story of faith from a rather unexpected source.
Luke 7:1-6
When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them.
He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.
In this passage, Jesus is entering into a town called Capernaum. There is a Roman centurion who hears of his arrival and instantly comes to find him. At this point in time, the Romans were the ruling power in Israel. This centurion would have been part of this occupying force. He was a gentile, with no Jewish heritage, and yet he comes to Jesus out of desperation because his highly valued servant is sick and on the brink of death.
This Centurion sends the Jewish elders to Jesus to plead on his behalf to come and heal his servant. The Centurion must have heard stories of all of Jesus’ miraculous healings. He must have believed Jesus was his only hope.
And just like him, we need to recognize that Jesus is our only hope for healing. And we must put our faith into action by asking him to heal us and make us new. Putting your life into Jesus’ hands may feel like a leap of faith, but we can trust that Jesus will catch us.
We once heard a story about a house that had caught fire. In this terrible situation, there was a young boy who was forced to flee to the roof for safety. The little boy’s father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, “Jump! I’ll catch you.” He knew the boy had to jump in order to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness. As we can imagine, he was afraid to leave the roof even though his life was in danger. His father kept yelling: “Jump! I will catch you.” But the boy protested, “Daddy, I can’t see you.” But, the father replied, “Trust me, I can see you and that’s all that matters.”
This is true faith.
Many of us have a tendency to trust in ourselves and think we can do life on our own only to find that Jesus is our only hope. We must step out in faith.
POINT #2 – TRUE FAITH BELIEVES THAT JESUS CAN DO ANYTHING
So Jesus follows the elders to the centurion’s home to respond to the request to heal his servant. But before he can make it to the house, the centurion sends a message to him.
Luke 7:7-10
He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
The message brought to Jesus is that he does not need to enter or even come to the Centurion’s home to perform this healing miracle. In humility, the centurion does not consider himself worthy to have the Saviour enter his house. The centurion, in faith, knows that all Jesus needs to do is say a word, even from afar, and the healing will take place.
The centurion believes this because he understands authority. The centurion has faith in the authority of Jesus to simply command the sickness to leave, or for the servant to rise up, and it would happen. True faith has confidence that Jesus can do anything, that there is nothing outside his scope of power.
If we have faith that Jesus can do anything, it changes our approach to everything. When our marriage begins to struggle, we go straight to Jesus and ask him to change our relationship. When we have an addiction that we continually struggle with, we go straight to Jesus and ask him to give us victory over it. When we find ourselves in a place of darkness and depression, we go straight to Jesus and ask him to speak a word of light into us.
Do you believe Jesus can do anything?
What He can do may not always coincide with how we would do it or the timing may look different. The centurion believed, and he trusted that Jesus had the authority to make the difference.
In 1893, engineer George Ferris built a machine that bears his name–the Ferris wheel. When it was finished, he invited a newspaper reporter to accompany him and his wife for the inaugural ride. It was a windy July day, so a stiff breeze struck the wheel with great force as it slowly began its rotation. Despite the wind, the wheel turned flawlessly. After one revolution, Ferris called for the machine to be stopped so that he, his wife, and the reporter could step out. In braving that one revolution on the windblown Ferris wheel, each occupant demonstrated genuine faith. Mr. Ferris began with the scientific knowledge that the machine would work and that it would be safe. Mrs. Ferris and the reporter believed the machine would work on the basis of what the inventor had said. But only after the ride could it be said of all three that they had personal, experiential faith.
Living a life of faith means that we trust the author and perfecter of our faith, Jesus. He created us and set all of life into motion. Despite the wind and the troubles of life, we trust that we can rest securely in him.
When Jesus hears the confidence that the centurion has in his power, the Bible says that he is amazed. Can you believe it? This gentile centurion displays the kind of faith that actually amazes the Son of God and quite possibly supersedes all the faith in Israel at the time. When the men return to the centurion’s home, they are shocked to find that the servant has been made well.
POINT #3 – TRUE FAITH JOINS GOD IN SERVING THE WORLD
True faith is not just believing that Jesus can do something in our lives, it is also believing that Jesus can do something through our lives. The book of James speaks to the importance of having an active faith.
Let’s read James 2:14-17
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
The author begins by asking a very important question. What good does it do to have faith without having any kind of service, action, or works accompany it? The example that is given is seeing a need around us and doing nothing to help meet that need. James would consider it to be a worthless faith; a dead faith.
To illustrate dead faith, it is the kind of faith which would lead a person to take a bottle of medicine from the medicine cabinet. Looking at the instructions on it, then say, ‘I’m sure these are correct. I have all the confidence in the source of the medicine. I know who wrote these directions. I believe everything about it. I know this will relieve my headache or backache or whatever, if I just take it.’ But then they put the medicine bottle back on the shelf without taking it! . The issue is never remedied. The pain continues on. That person may say they believe in that medicine. They believe all about that medicine. But still they won’t take it. That’s dead faith.
The world around you is in need of people full of faith. People like the centurion who believe that all Jesus needs to do is speak a word and his will will be done. But the world also needs people whose faith leads them to reach out in concern and service to the world. We are made new by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, but not just for our own benefit. We are made new for the benefit of a broken world around us.
Of all the ways we’ve been Made New because of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ….
Here’s the questions we need to be sure of…
- Does the world around me see my faith playing out in our generosity?
- How can I be more generous? It doesn’t take much to be generous – Mother Theresa said “If you can’t feed a hundred people then feed just one.”
- Does the world around me see my faith playing out in our service to others?
- How can I serve others more? Does the world around me see my faith playing out in our willingness to sacrifices for others?
- What am I willing to sacrifice?
Faith and works are really like the two feet of any person. Walking out our journey with Christ with a left foot of faith and then a right foot of works. Left foot and then right foot, until, as the famous Pastor, William Booth, once said, “they cannot be distinguished from one another”.
Jesus Christ died and was raised to life again so that each of us can know renewal and transformation. The key to that transformative powering our lives is our faith. Through our faith, New life is unlocked as we place that faith, our hope, and trust in the work of Jesus.
That’s what allows us to move past our past….to grow in our faith and to fully receive the forgiveness of God. Remember, God invites us to live with a future focus together.
The early church new this and depended on that Truth. That’s precisely why they shared this deep sense of fellowship around their belief in the risen Christ. And today, we can all enjoy the community that comes from faith. Being a part of God’s family helps experience all that God has for us and grows us into a faith in Jesus that does not result in worthless but in action.
You and I were made new to change the world!
That’s always been such an important part of God’s plan as Christians, we’re called to change the world!
“I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,”
– Genesis 26:4
The life you have been given is an assignment from the Lord (1 Corinthians 7:17).
You don’t need to be someone else and you don’t need to be somewhere else.
You need to be who and where God wants you to be.
Because your assigned life is not just about you. It’s also about hundreds of others around you and hundreds of thousands of others who will come after you.
FBK family because He has Made us New, you will change the world, more than you know.
A. W. Tozer once said
“Refuse to be average. Let your heart soar as high as it will.”
You may not feel like a big world-changer, but together, unified under Christ, believers have been changing the world for 2,000 years – and will continued to do so.
Don’t you want to be a part of that?!?!
Prayer
Our gracious and loving Heavenly Father, we come to you today in the name of Jesus. We’re so thankful for this privilege of meeting together as your people to worship and honor you. We’re encouraged and strengthened as we sing and pray together and as we hear the message from your Word we’re challenged in our walk with you. We need to hear from you today and we need to be drawn closer to you. We’re all needy people and we earnestly seek your will and your way. We want to live lives of holiness and purity and that’s why we’re here today. We need you, Lord, and we must feel your presence near us not only he re in church on Sunday, but out there in our everyday lives, because we’re the church every day.
We’re still the church in our homes and when we’re doing our business, in the classroom and in the factory. We want to portray the spirit of Christ every day. Meeting together here every week gives help to make it through the days ahead.
And now, Lord, as you look down inside of each of us today we know that you see all the things that are there that no one else can see, and as we each reach out to you we know that you’re already reaching out to us. We pray for forgiveness for those that have failed you. We pray for encouragement and uplift for those that are discouraged. We pray for comfort for those that are sorrowing and sad. We pray for physical healing and restoration for those with sickness and problems. Lord, we’re all different but we all need the assurance of your loving presence. Thank you that you’re always there and we can depend on you.
We pray again today for our country, for our president and his cabinet and advisors. Please give them wisdom and insight that can come only from you. We pray for the men and women of the congress. Many of them are God-fearing people and they are trying to lead the country in righteousness and truth.
We pray for the communities where we live and work. Help us to be the influence for holiness and right that will make a difference. We pray, too, for our local leaders and that they will make right decisions that will direct us in the right path.
We pray for our troops around the world as they continue to work for freedom and justice particularly in the Middle East. We pray for safety and protection and that they may succeed in their mission with your help and direction.
We ask for continued wisdom and leading for our pastoral staff and members of the various boards and committees. We know that they face important decisions that will affect the future of our church for years to come. Help each of us as we contemplate this Made New emphasis and how that should be impacting our lives.
We pray all this with thanksgiving in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen.
Song
Benediction
Go forth to love one another. Be rich in faith and serve one another in all joy and humility. And may the power of God our Creator, Christ our Salvation, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forever. Amen.
Blessings & have a Great Week!