What does it mean to have unshakable faith? Constant, unfailing, indisputable, without question…It all starts with having Jesus as our foundation – last weeks bones give us the ability to move and carry forward. In this weeks message “Faith Check – Unshakeable Faith”, we look at just that. Confident constant faith that carries you through the storms of life, verses riding the waves like a roller coaster.

Just a reminder – Salvation and foundation are different.  Last week the challenge was for the Church to seek the Holy Spirit in how we need to individually make Jesus our foundation, so that we can move into the next season carrying the vision from the Holy Spirit.

This week – How do we keep moving with the vision?

Jeremiah 51:59-64

59 This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign. 60 Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. 61 He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. 62 Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate forever.’ 63 When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. 64 Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people will fall.’”

The words of Jeremiah end here. Here he passes the baton.

The story shifts perspective onto Seraiah

Seraiah—Yahweh has prevailed … in other words – Jesus Won! Won and done.

Our faith on Jesus comes from the past… Jesus won. I’m not sitting around questioning Jesus or my faith or reality. I am confident Jesus won.

Let’s do life together in the comments and start proclaiming what Jesus already won over. I dare you to be bold and proclaim things that might feel scary right now, but pick up the inheritance of deliverance that belongs to you and proclaim it.

Doing life in the comments – Proclaim what Jesus has Victory over!

When I feel hopeless and hurting I fast forward 1000 years in my mind. I see myself worshipping Jesus laying in-front of His thrown in heaven. It calms every storm in my life. It keeps me grounded and reminds me that my faith isn’t a roller coaster ride – it’s unshakable. – Pastor Matt

Let’s look at unshakable faith at the end of Jeremiahs story.

Jeremiah in his final act – hands over the word of God to be carried, cast, then camped on.

• Carry the Word
• Cast the Word
• Camp on the Word

We need to be doing this in 2 areas – The Church and Personal life

Personally –

It’s not good to be someone different at all the places you belong to.

You need to have unshakable faith in all areas and all times of your life.

Jesus is the center and everything we have circling around us truly circles around Him.

** If you are dealing with anxiety or control issues…. think of the sun having true control of the earth; and envision Jesus doing the same over your live. Break free of anxiety by trusting Jesus is in full control.

Church – 

The fastest way to kill a church is to expect the pastor to be the only one to carry the word and vision from the Holy Spirit forward.

The fastest way to grow a Church is to carry the word and vision daily alongside the pastor  – not only is this infectious to others it transforms your mind, heart and attitude. 

** Take action on the word and vision daily – if our church keeps saying it’s important that we are “doing life together” in this season; we need to find a way to do life together. When we move into a new season as a church we all move together. 

This week we are focused on external next steps

Next Step – Encourage and pray for someone this week not in your home – then take it to the next level and invite them to communion or Ladies Art night and do life with them.

Can I let you in on a secret? Hope wins! Every time. This is the last in our Can’t Cancel Hope series. I knew before we started this series the last thing to be spoken was Jesus in the tomb.  In fact, one of the core images in my mind of this series was the picture of Jesus in the tomb; isolated and separated from His friends and people He loved. Waiting to be set free.

Luke 24:1-8:

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words.

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

One of the most powerful statements. Why do you look for hope in dead things?

Hope wins because hope is Jesus.

You ever watch a movie for the first time with someone who already seen that movie? Sitting around spoiling every moment. Ohh this is the best part…

Jesus spoiled the end of the story to the disciples, just like…

Jesus spoils the ending of your story, if you listen.

“Spoiler alert, I love you, see you in heaven. Hope wins.” – Jesus

Jesus is our Hope. He knows the plans he has for us. He is telling his plans for you all the time through the Holy Spirit and the Word.

Hope is confident expectation – Jesus was confidently expecting to raise from the dead. 

• Hope gets you through. 
• Hope guides you. 
• Hope delivers you…
• Hope wins

What are some of the things that Jesus went through before He rose? 

Hope wins through:

1. Betrayal – Judas and Peter. When those you love let you down.
2. Attacked – Whipped and beaten – When life hits you over and over, wears on you.
3. Suffocation – cross – When you can’t breathe under the pressure of life, or people, you feel like the life is slowing draining out of you.
4. Isolation – in cave/tomb – When you are cut off from people you love.

Doing life in the comments – What do you need Hope Winning through? 

doubt, fear, frustrations, anger…

Hope Always Wins… 

…the only time hope fails is when hope is discarded before results.

What do we need to learn so we don’t throw hope away? Especially when we are that close to breakthrough?

1 Timothy 1:1

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,…

1 – Live in Your Shoes

The first thing Paul says is his name. It’s who he is. If you try and be someone else you will constantly be let down. You are trying to obtain something that doesn’t belong to you. And Jesus is too good to let you have something that doesn’t belong to you.

2 – Live in His Authority

An apostle of Jesus – apostle means “sent one” – Paul was sent by Jesus. He was not acting on his own will but the will of Jesus. Granting the full authority of Jesus over his actions.

When we start living in the authority of Jesus we gain clear direction and lose unclear wandering.

3 – Live in Your New Life

God is the author of your life. He gave you a new life, will you live in it??

• Where you came from does not cancel where you are going.
• Stop dropping Hope because of your past.
• Accepting Jesus as savior gave you a new life.

Remember what the angel said at the tomb – Why do you look for the living among the dead?

Look for Hope in Jesus

Your next step this week – Pick up dropped Hope. Because Hope wins. 

Maybe you dropped hope in an area. Maybe you know someone who dropped hope.

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CHECK THIS OUT!

Our new sermon series starts next week – “Faith Check”

We spent time on Hope. Now we are diving into faith. We will be hyper-focusing in the book of Jeremiah throughout this series.

I want to encourage you to do 2 things:

1st – Get a new journal to write everything the Holy Spirit will speak to you through the entire series.

2nd – Invite someone to watch or listen to a message in the upcoming sermon series. Share a video with them, start a watch party and tag them. Tag them in a comment. Start praying now for who that will be.

Have you ever felt so alone it weighs on you? Where you’re longing for an answer that seems forever away or impossible? Not actually talking about coranvirus and the ongoing stay at home orders. I’m actually talking about leprosy. Lepers were required to stand 6ft away and wear cloth face masks. Crazy similarity to today, right? We are continuing our “Can’t Cancel Hope” looking at people in the Bible experiencing their own isolation, dark, hidden, places holding on for the HOPE that is Jesus. Today, we’re in Matthew 8… a message that places our biggest breakthrough from a million miles off to just 6ft away.

Matthew 8:1-4

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.

What closes the gap of our breakthrough?

Matthew 7:7-8

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

How do you get closer to breakthrough?

1) Receive – you gotta listen to receive. 

word > precedes > breakthrough

2) Positioned – you must position yourself at the foot of the throne.

The reason we fail is not believing. The reason why people secretly lack faith is from bad positioning…

The leper calls Jesus Lord. Lord – meaning: owner, person I belong to….

Jesus had disciples. He had a church services. But up to this point people called him teacher, rabbi…. why do you think Jesus asked the question later on who do people call me? Who do you call me?

Many people follow Jesus and have not positioned Him as Lord.

Is Jesus your teacher? Or is He your Lord that teaches?

**Join the discussion down below in the comments**

Discussion question today is – How can you personally position Jesus as Lord this week?

The leper called Him Lord publicly, bowed at his feet and worshipped Him before any healing ever happened.

3) Motivated – Why was he motivated?

He wanted to rejoin community, he wanted to do life together….

Jesus reached out his hand and touched him.

2 perspectives.

1st – Leper that needed a breakthrough.

2nd – Jesus who showed the man His love.

For some of us we are in the shoes of the leper needing breakthrough.

For some of us we need to realize that we need to be the shoes of Jesus.

There is a 3rd perspective – the crowd that stayed on the sidelines. They watched but did nothing.

!!Our church does life together and takes the next steps.!!

Jesus healed 3 people after Church.

• Leprosy – those that society rejects.
• Centurion servant – those that we hate
• Peters mother-in-law – those we love

Jesus demonstrated His love through healing.

YOUR NEXT STEP: This week is to demonstrate the love of Jesus to someone. Someone that bothers you, someone you hate, or someone you love. But most importantly it needs to be someone who doesn’t live with you.

Have you ever waited too long? When we feel stuck for too long; hope becomes hurt. Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick…” Moses is the perfect example.

This is the latest message in our “Can’t Cancel Hope” series, about people stuck in places, holes, caves, boats, isolation… They are separated and we have studied how they kept or found their hope and the actions they took to do so; and how we can apply that to our lives today.

Follow along with Pastor Matt here:

Exodus 3:1-7

“Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

7 The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.

What brings you to the presence of God? 

“Moses led the flock to the far side”

• nahag – to lead or to lament

Exodus 3:3

Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

• It doesn’t matter how you get to the presence of God. 
• It just matters what you do while you are there.

What do you do in the presence of God?

4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

1 – Be fully Present

• • Have respect
  • Take our time

2 – Take time

6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.”

• Elohiym Ab – Elohiym (supreme, ruler. nothing over me) Ab (father, head, found, originator). Originator of Art!

3 – Gain Identity

7 The LORD said, “I have indeed SEEN the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have HEARD them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am AWARE of their sufferings.

4 – Acquire Heart of Jesus

• See – Acknowledge what’s happening
• Hear – Listen to stories
• Know – Do life together

Hope is on the way and it’s delivered by you. No excuses! Be like Moses… without the excuses!

Our prayer today is that…Hope is on the Way!