This past Sunday my friend and mentor Pastor Andrew Barber preached a very powerful message on faith that really hit home with me. The message was powerful and full of the spirit that it energized me as I served for the next two services. The message that flowed through Andrew from God filled my spirit and then flowed out of me as I welcomed church members and visitors alike.
I encouraged everyone that I came in contact with that morning to seek out Andrew's sermon on YouTube because it was that inspirational and uplifting that it was important that anyone who missed it got a chance to experience it.
As a side note it is wonderful to see someone, in this case Andrew, grow in his ability as a pastor. He has always been able to deliver God's message in a special spirit filled way, but this time he was able to take it to another level. I can't wait to see what Jesus has planned for him in the future.
I have the broadcast of Andrew's sermon here so you won't have to go looking for it:
Here are the sermon notes for reference and continued study:
The Widow’s Big FaithHave you ever had to have a moment where you needed “Big Faith?”
The definition of faith is the “complete trust and confidence in someone or something.”
By that definition, you and I can have halfway faith in something… many of us in this room right now are halfway faith believers… we halfway believe that God is who he says he is… but I hate to break it to you, but halfway faith doesn’t move big mountains… Big faith moves big mountains.
We all have put our faith in something. You and I have faith… but what is it in? Is it in God? Is it in our spouses? Our pastors? Science? Friends? When it comes down to it, where is your faith?
BIG FAITH HAS A BIG PRICE.
1 Kings 17:8-14
There is a price to pay with faith… a sacrifice to be made… having faith this big is going to cost something. What has your faith cost you? Has it cost you a friendship? An opportunity? A relationship? Or has your faith been free?
If your “faith” has been free and it’s never cost you anything, I want to challenge you to ask yourself WHY is that the case? Is it because you’ve had a quiet faith that you keep to yourself? Is it because you’ve had a lukewarm faith that is hot on a Sunday and hot on a Wednesday night, but is ice cold on a Saturday night where you make most of your poor decisions? Or ice cold at a Tuesday afternoon staff meeting? Or is it because your faith hasn’t been in Christ at all, but it’s been in the things you want in this life… the relationships… the money… the career… the acceptance…
Maybe your faith hasn’t been a faith at all. Big Faith has a Big Price. It’s going to cost you something. But whatever it’s going to cost you, God will replace it with ten times the amount. YOU CAN’T OUTGIVE GOD!
BIG FAITH REQUIRES BIG ACTION.
Verse 15 says, 15 So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. 16 There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.
I love how it’s put there… so she DID… she didn’t think… she didn’t just hear the words… she DID as Elijah said…It’s not enough for you and I to just KNOW what to do for our BIG FAITH… we have to actually do it!
There are too many believers in this world who have the head knowledge and they THINK they know who Christ is because of what a Pastor says or what a book says, but they don’t have a clue about true faith because that knowledge in the head doesn’t reach their hands and become action.
James 2:26
says, “Just as the body is dead without breath, faith is dead and useless without good works.”It’s time out for believers who know it, but don’t show it. Believers who understand it, but won’t practice it. Say they believe, but don’t prove that they believe.
This woman acted on her big faith… and the Lord did EXACTLY WHAT HE SAID HE WOULD! He provided! Her home never went hungry! Many people have a hunger in their spirit that only God can satisfy! Trust in the Lord and DO WHAT HE SAYS FOR YOU TO DO, and he is going to provide, and he is going to show out. There was always enough flour and olive oil, meaning there was an abundance of it.
Elijah, the widow, and her son live happily ever after… actually, they don’t. Because shortly after this, the widow’s son gets sick and dies…
BIG FAITH PRODUCES A BIG TESTIMONY
1 Kings 17:17
Big faith… produces… a big testimony.
No person is ever too far gone. No situation is too broken beyond repair. Why? Because our God is big enough. He is strong enough. He is powerful enough. How close are you willing to get to the dead areas in your life? Many of us have dead areas in our lives… depression… doubts… guilt… your faith… your addiction… maybe it’s out of your control, like a child’s decision making, a friend who doesn’t know Christ… maybe it’s a dead-end pursuit of you striving to be enough…
How close are you willing to get to the dead area of your life? Elijah was willing to lay on top of the child and cry out to the Lord…Maybe you have tried to let God into those areas. Maybe you have prayed about it. Let me encourage you with this… Elijah didn’t stretch out over him once. He went back.
Maybe you need to go back. Bring your dead area back to Christ.
There is power in going back. There’s POWER in PERSISTENCY. Don’t give up. Don’t quit fighting. Don’t quit pursuing. For many of us, we need to start fighting today. You’ve accepted defeat too long in these dead areas. No situation too broken. Fight tonight. Quit swinging with doubt, and know that God is going to come through.
When it comes to the Lord, the best place for you to fight is on your knees. It’s with praise, and it’s with your prayers. Cry out to God tonight.
*Our sin separates us from God. Back in the OT, God required a sacrifice from Israel, his chosen nation, each year to redeem, restore, and cleanse them from their sins. One day, God sent his son Jesus to walk among us. Jesus Christ lived a perfect life and died as the perfect sacrifice for my sins and your sins. His blood redeems and renews us. Once we accept him in our lives as Lord and savior, he saves us and washes us white as snow.
No situation too broken. No person is too far gone.
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