August 7 2016 “Big Faith” Jacqueline Hines Hebrews 11.1-3, 8-16

As we read this morning’s letter to the Hebrews, [slide # 1 Hebrews] the writer very specifically names people who have great faith. In other words, they chose to believe God. They put one foot in front of the other and trusted the God they could only see by faith. [slide # 2 coin…trust]

It is hard to imagine [slide # 3 imagine] what it was to trust God in the midst of everyday life in the ancient world of lions, and tigers, and bears - oh my….of pirates and peculiar medical practices, of wars and rumors of wars. Can you imagine?

In some ways we can imagine the unimaginable. So much has happened in our world in recent years that we could have not imagined, that now we throw our hands in the air and say – “Anything can happen in this world. We must keep our bags packed because we never know what will happen from one moment to the next. As always, we expect the best and prepare for the worst!” [slide # 4 expect good…]

We must do what we do best, keep our hand in God’s hand and follow where God leads us. Unimaginable and terrible things may happen, but with the eyes of faith, we will also see amazing and wonderful things happen. Elevators get installed. VBS attracts outstanding teen leaders and 100 children eager to be fed the gospel. We maintain a healthy atmosphere where we can speak the truth in love when we gather. God sends us a gifted Pre school director and 16 children have enrolled. You may remember two years ago only one of the 12 preschoolers were enrolled in August. And to make our faith journey even more awesome, this week a member told me they were sending a check to sponsor a preschool child.

The blessings we see are too many to count. Our blessings are overflowing. At times, it is our fear that makes us fail to see great blessings, naturally. Supernaturally, we give thanks and we affirm our faith and trust in our loving, creator God. [ slide #5  woman hands up] We do not put our faith in our pocketbooks or in our dreams of a better life or a perfect life. We may be able to enjoy prosperity, we may even be able to enjoy a life that gets better and better, but our faith in God cannot fail when troubles come and we don’t get what we want or when we lose what we have. It is in tough times that we need our faith more than ever.

Our faith fills us with a Holy Spirit that defeats the evil that disappointments and deprives us. Our faith pulls us up when we have been pushed to the ground. Our faith opens doors that no one can shut and closes doors that no one can open. Our faith is more precious than silver and gold. Like our forefathers and foremothers in the faith Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Rachel, we learn with every life experience that true life is achieved through a lively faith. Their faith took them through their youth to their senior years. Then they looked forward to a heaven – by faith – because they could not imagine such a place. There are those who have been convinced that Heaven is for Real. They say they were there and it was unimaginable and glorious. Others say they have visited Hell and it was neither pretty nor pleasant.

We keep our faith charged up like we keep our cell phones charged and ready for service. We connect to our power source and our faith is energized. [slide # 6 Energizer bunny]

We keep the lines of communication open. One day I decided to have a spaghetti dinner. I cooked 10 pounds of hamburger meat and poured the juice down the sink. It did not look greasy, but it was. The next morning, the sink was clogged. No matter how much I used the plunger, used Drano, and poured boiling water through the drain, the pipes remained impenetrably clogged. There was nothing I could do. I had to call the plumber and the problem was quickly solved. [slide # 7 drain]

We want to avoid having sin clog the work of the Holy Spirit. Joel Osteen shared that the word Jesus uses for cleansing us means “cathartic.”  The purpose of catharsis is to make our hearts pure and to purge ourselves from emotions such as fear and self-pity. [Slide # 8 CATHARSIS definition] It brings about spiritual renewal or release from tension.

Catharsis is where we get the word “catheter.” Just as a medical catheter automatically removes all the unwanted byproducts in our bodies, the Holy Spirit removes sin from our lives and from the lives of Christian brothers and sisters near and far.

The Holy Spirit works in us to purify us as we fellowship [slide # 9 fellowship] with believers, as we worship and study God’s word, [slide # 10 Half Truths book] as we do God’s will, as we walk faithfully,[slide # 11 Trust God…] one step at a time. In this world, it is natural to have fear. The Holy Spirit is our supernatural source of faith. Let us go forth in faith!! [slide # 12 Believe] Amen.