Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning.
I'll keep saying good morning until they turn. There we go. Yeah Yes, good morning Nobody hears me good morning Boy standing as your able say good morning Thank you. Oh All right that last song that we sang There was a line that jumped off the page to me and it's a line I didn't agree with But it's okay Because songs are songs They're not the word of God and you can agree with and disagree with a line or a word in a song But it says in unity will stand as one as family will go shoulder to shoulder hand in hand into the great unknown What's that unknown?
I don't like that word Because I know where I'm going and I hope you do too now. Yes, we don't know what a year ahead is going to bring us But The future is not unknown to the believer praise God. Let's pray. Thank you father on this last Sunday of 2024 Then we can come together We can unite our hearts in song and praise to the to the God of heaven give thanks for the son who you sent to die for us and praise you For your faithfulness in the past year and look forward to continue faithfulness in the year ahead We thank you Lord as we face another year That we look on the faithfulness of the past and we count on the same faithfulness into the future in Jesus name amen so it's hard to believe but And most of you the big majority of you have we're not here, but 25 years ago We went to a family's home in Bedford 25 years ago this year to celebrate Y2k year 2000 that was 25 years ago this this week and While we were at that home, of course, everybody was wondering are the lights going to go out is everything going to fail Is the whole world going to collapse when you know they forgot to extend computer language stuff beyond 99 and and it turns to zero zero Is everything gonna be reset to 1900 and it didn't happen?
All we know is the one guy we had in the assembly here at the time who had the only thing I remember about it Anyway, the one guy who had absolutely no hair on his head none. He was gifted Beretts that's the one memory I have of that night, so But back then I started thinking about what we didn't have back then that we do have now We didn't have smartphones we didn't have Wi-Fi there was no online banking there were no flat-screen TVs They were big monsters that took three people to carry there were no tablets. I'm not talking pills But you know these things here. There was no YouTube.
There was no such thing as a 3d printer In fact most people didn't have a printer. There was no Bluetooth. There was no Spotify. There was no Netflix It was a simpler time that didn't seem very simple at the time and then I started thinking about what has happened in this past year There has been a lot of things that have happened this past year.
We've had earthquakes hurricanes wildfires wars are continuing The Middle East and in the Ukraine we had this whacked-out election in the US I mean whether the guy you were cheering for one or whether the Whatever it was still wacky I mean they took shots at the guy who's running they like they brought out a geriatric president who from now we know Didn't even know he was there all the stuff that went on it was crazy AI continues to advance every time I do something on Google now AI answers me we have lost friends We lost loved ones. We've had new marriages. We've had new babies our church has grown in numbers Somebody asked me the other day is it the same bunch at Northbrook and I said no we'll come and check it out There's probably 150 people you don't know Some changed jobs some graduated some started university That's where we've been there's been a lot of changes. So we're going to face a new year ahead.
We're right there ready to go into a new year Like Warren. I'm hoping we don't get there. I'm hoping we get there. That would be wonderful I'd love to hear a New Year's Eve trumpet sold out that everybody in the world hears it and we're just making an exit That would be nice But if we are here and we face a new year ahead How are we going to face it?
How are we going to face it as individuals? We're gonna make plans. Maybe we're gonna try to lose weight Maybe we're going to get a new job. Maybe all just work harder at my job that I have now Maybe I'll work less.
Maybe that's my goal. Maybe I'll try to get higher marks in school Maybe I'm going to try to spend more time with my family or develop some healthier habits and join the gym take up walking Drink more water get more sleep You know we make all these plans But God might have other plans for us. We don't know how about as a church We look back and we see what the Lord has done at North work over the past number of years I've been here a long time and there's others who have been here a long time Then for example has been here 35 years Many changes many changes in people and leadership some changes and some practices and programs But what I think I'm thankful for the same principles the same word of God has been what we cling to and what what we anchor into We can spend a lot of time thinking about the past but we have to move on from that We need to move forward into the future. That's what we're going It's okay to glance at the past but don't stare at it.
Don't live back there. Don't look at it as a destination It's the past you've come from there look forward to your destination We rejoice and what the Lord has done, but we look to him to do more in the future. So how do we face the future? I was thinking about this and and as I'm doing on Sunday mornings a study in the life of Abraham It was the father of faith and Abraham stepped out in faith and walked in faith and I want to encourage you To face face to face the new year with faith Face the new year ahead with faith.
So What am I talking about you may be sitting there saying faith? What does he mean by faith now? Many of you know actually there's many of you who could be here and probably explain this better than I can Many of you have lived and earmarked your lives with faith way more than I have I Sometimes look and think it's a good thing. We don't come before God and he weighs things up at the end Faith and failures.
I'm afraid I'd probably go a little heavy on the failure side or faith and doubts Where would I where would I go? But what is faith? Well first we need to know what it's not first of all faith is not some Strange head in the sand denying the obvious Sometimes people when you when you talk about faith they look at you and think really I mean you're still religious. I see It's not anti-intellectual.
Oh, so you actually believe that stuff that's in that old book. Yes, I do Yeah It's not that it's not something that happens when you come in these are not really stained glass But they're kind of like that but it's not some churchy sort of thing that only happens between 11 and 1230 on a Sunday It's not some motivational seminar and self-relaxation and self-confidence Podcast that you listen to faith is not the power of positive mental attitude thing. It's not that so what faith is First of all I want to say everyone has faith Everyone has faith the atheist has faith the atheist has faith that what he believes is right the atheist is Is so entrenched in his faith that there is no God that he is religiously following that But faith everybody exhibits faith in one way or another. But what is it for real?
So faith is first of all It's an attitude. It affects the way we live. We can live in an attitude of fear We can live with an attitude of doubt. We can live with an attitude of naive Holfulness that's grounded in nothing But we need to have an attitude of faith it affects the way we live it affects the way we live as a Christian First of all, it's rooted in a God who is real the creator of all things the one who was made you I Got up this morning and I drew my breath while I was breathing all night really I was but I felt like when I got up I drew some fresh cool air That's the God of heaven has made me that way the God of heaven provided the air The God of heaven provided the ability for me to take oxygen into my body and move and start my day Some are suffering right now with colds are really understanding that it's difficult But when you when you understand that it is a God who is real.
He's the creator of all things secondly Faith by faith. We are justified at salvation Romans chapter 5 verse 1 says therefore being justified by faith We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ Faith is essential for salvation You must put your trust in one thing and one thing only and that's the Lord Jesus Christ you must put your trust in him It's essential for salvation Faith also will sustain me until I get to heaven walking with that same Lord and trusting him every day every step Faith is a hundred percent founded in one person and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not in me It's not in the elders. It's not in Warren.
It's not in Bob It's not in Nick or Mary or Kathy or anybody else my faith is a hundred percent rooted in the Lord Jesus Christ It is founded in him Faith is also active confidence in God. It's something that I live out every day of my life I have to actually participate. I have to walk in faith. I have to be active in my faith Faith is a turning away So this is this is important faith is a turning away from trusting our own circumstances and abilities and turning to God alone To meet our every need our every need Faith is placing my deepest hope and confidence in a sovereign God I kind of feel like I'm just repeating with John said this morning of the Lord's Supper because they tied together in fact at some Point in time here.
I do believe I'm going to Psalm 90 So I want to look at faith based on this chapter of the scriptures the most famous chapter in the scriptures on on faith Hebrews chapter 11 Verses 1 to 3. I'm going to read it from two different versions Hebrews chapter 11 verses 1 to 3 from the New King James It says now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen For by it elders obtained a good testimony by faith. We understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God So that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible in the NLT It says what is faith? It is a confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen It is the evidence of things that we we cannot yet see God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command and that we now and what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen There's two words there that stand out for me First of all, I hil- I bolded them faith is substance faith is substance faith is evidence.
That's why it's not this kind of weird Out there sort of thought process Faith is substance. It's real. It's tangible. I had somebody talking to me one day recently about somebody else who was going through a hard time not From Northbrook not believers not Christians and this person said to me if you can send good vibes for her right now That would be really really good and I thought I can get good vibes from my vacuum cleaner What's that going to do good vibes or if you can have a good thought for her that would help and I said well I can pray for her And the answer to the came back was well, if that's what floats your boat That's good and I'm thinking that is what floats my boat It's faith in the God of heaven the eternal sovereign God to make a difference in the lives of people Vibes don't do it vibes are annoying if I'm driving in my car and something's vibrating I have to pull out and strip everything under the car until I find out what has been making that vibration noise to stop it Faith is what we need faith in the God of heaven So what do I mean in substance the simplest way I can think of is I place an order on Amazon?
And I get this little not little this big number. It's about 300 digits long right there, and that's my order number That substance I've got that I can hold on to it and say yes Those shoes are coming I ordered them they gave me a number. I have the substance in my hand that that is going to happen Substance faith is also evidence because I Will get evidence soon after that a tracking number that has been put on a UPS truck or something And it's going to make it to my house and then I really get evidence When it's sitting on my doorstep, I get a picture from the carrier that says there you go and I can go to the bank on that Faith is both of those things. It's like a reservation number for the hotel you walk into the hotel and you give them the reservation number That's a yes your room is ready.
It's done Faith is like that picture of the package good. It arrived. I know it's there I'm not running to my doorstep every day just looking like this I get the evidence that it's there the picture Faith is that the reason I know that it's going to arrive the other reason I know it's going to arrive That's a picture from the past. I know it's going to happen I've got a bunch of these pictures of big parcels little parcels and all of that stuff on my doorstep So I have a record from the past that I go back and say just like I always do Amazon's gonna get it there Sort of on time and it'll be there based on the past That's my house.
Yes, I miss my house perfect evidence You see the evidence We trust God because of the record of those who have trusted him in the past not the record of just you here that have trusted him in the past I Have a full record of hundreds and hundreds who have trusted him in the past and he has always delivered and delivered on time Psalm 90 John Verse 1 Lord you have been our dwelling place in all generations You have been our dwelling place in all generations from the time of Adam to the time of today God has been faithful. So when I look at that, I think he has no reason not to be faithful in 2025 He has been faithful right up to 2024 Consistently faith summed up in one sentence and I got this from a book I read a number of years ago by James McDonald He says faith is believing the word of God and acting upon it no matter how I feel because God promises a good result I like that definition. I like that. I like better the Hebrews definition But I thought this is a pretty good way to put it into a language that I can understand in my everyday life Faith is believing the word of God and acting upon it no matter how I feel because God promises a good result First of all Faith is believing the word of God Why?
Because it's sure because it's trustworthy because it's proven because I know who the author is if somebody comes to me and says Have you read the newest? John Grisham book no oh, it's really good Why am I going to read that because I know John Grisham consistently writes good books except for the ones that aren't good But with God I know he's consistently been faithful. That's why I trust him. He's consistently been faithful First of all, he's a God who cannot lie not will not lie cannot lie.
There's a huge difference You could say well, you know what I've tried to make lied lie, but he won't I've done everything I've pinched his nose. I've pinched his toes. I've stuck him poked him waterboard at him everything else He won't tell me a lie. Oh, it's frustrating, but I know he does.
I know he does. I've heard that that he does You see with God it's different. He does not have the ability to lie. He cannot lie He cannot you cannot box him into a corner and make him tell you something that's not true So every word when you read this I started going in I started going through my Bible I've this is this has been kind of exciting for me and I highlight every time I read and God said and the Lord said and the Lord said and God said Every one of those words that he says are true and he cannot lie the other thing.
It's built on something sure It's the word of God. I can trust it. I can put all my eggs in that basket I don't need a plan B I can a hundred percent trust the word of God and I could be one hundred percent on board with the truth of God's word The second thing is it requires me acting you see genuine faith requires that I actually Download that into my life and I live by faith. I don't know.
Yes, those red collective guys were a little bit right there into the great Unknown it is unknown. I don't know what's going to happen next year I don't know what's gonna happen on the way home. I really don't but I put my faith in the God of heaven because he knows the future He knows what's going to happen in 2025 if we get to 2025 He knows all of that stuff and I can a hundred percent put my trust in that truth But it requires that I do that that I put my trust in him you see if you're here this morning and you've never trusted You've never trusted the Lord Jesus to be your savior and you're trusting in something else I can guarantee you with 100 percent certainty that something else is going to fail you Because the day will come when you stand before God and he says actually somebody brought this up at the men study the other day Why are you here when you finally stand before God in heaven? And if you can't say I'm here only because of one thing I put my faith in Jesus Christ who died for me Any other answer is the wrong answer.
That's the only one answer that's correct. That's the only one answer That shows that you have put faith in him and him alone You have to act on it. You know about faith act on it by just trusting simply trusting in the Lord Jesus who died for your sins to take them away Somebody illustrated it this way about acting on faith and I watch this professor do it Appendulum anybody know what a pendulum is yes swings back and forth right? It's usually a big heavy weight and he had a big ball There's a heavy ball he had it anchored to the ceiling of his classroom and there was a chair sitting there But a pendulum will go back and forth, but because of gravity eventually it will Slow down, but each time it goes this way and that way it's slightly slightly diminishes no matter what you put on this pendulum I'm trying to explain something that all you engineers know and I'm probably failing But this guy said here.
I want to prove this to you I want to prove that I can have faith in that law of science So he had the pendulum got it back and he put it and it came all that close to the wall and he waited a couple And he says okay now I'm going to sit in that chair at the one before would have crushed his nose But he might be sad in it like this the pendulum came to about there and went back and then went to here and back That's faith. I know that works. I know that the law of God works. I am going to trust the Bible I'm going to trust the Word of God a hundred percent I will put myself at risk and throw myself on the mercy of God because I know that that is true and that is sure Regardless of how I feel Maybe I'm full of fear.
Maybe I'm lonely. Maybe I'm I'm suffering from great grief and hurt Maybe my financial needs are great And you know what? I know I know somebody in every single one of those categories right now And I've been in all of those categories myself been through all of those things But I want to tell you the faith is trusting God in spite of all of those feelings all of those fears All of those loneliness all of the grief all of the hardship all of the empty bank accounts all of that stuff It's trusting God in all of those things no matter how I feel Here are four questions Why would I do what God tells me to do? Why?
Why would I wait until the Lord wait on the Lord to bring my child to Christ or my spouse to Christ? Why? Why would I give of my finances when I have so many debts? It's hard Why would I invest my energies in following heart after the Lord when I feel like my life is so empty and I have been so unfaithful?
One answer for all of it because God promises a good result If you do those things if you are faithful to the Lord in all these things no matter how you feel no matter how difficult it is in your life If you do these things God promises a good result I'm not speaking some strange prosperity gospel that plan to see you to faith and watch your bank account grow I'm not saying that I'm saying that God will supply your every need I Was I was just a student I was with work and I was walking around looking in the pastor of the church I went said you know what I'm gonna read a verse to you and I'll be prayer phrase it once I was young now I'm old but I've never seen and Here's where I start paraphrasing because I can't have memorized properly The righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread Now he didn't say I've never seen the righteous without a full bank account I didn't see the righteous not driving a Mercedes or an Acura or a Highlander or an inmate I pick on a first new pair He doesn't say that but he promises a good result. He will always meet my needs It is God's will that your child comes to Christ you can bank on that God is not willing that any should perish not your wife Not your husband not your spouse not one of them your child I mean he wants them to be saved It is his desire if you are faithful and you pray and you share Christ God will bring about a good result Faith is prominent in the word of God and I'm not going to spend a lot of time because I look at the clock back there And I know all the children are up here, but it speaks of in Hebrews chapter 11 verses 4 to 7 It speaks of Abel Enoch Noah and Abraham to 4 to 8 by faith Abel offered God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain Look down verse 5 by faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death And he was not found because God had taken him Look down at verse 7 by faith Noah being warned by God concerning events yet unseen in reverent fear Constructed an arc for the saving of his household by this he condemned the world and became an heir of righteousness that comes by faith All of these from the very very beginning had faith Just simply trust it God's word they took God at his word and then we read further on verses 11 to 31 by faith Well by faith Abraham went out not knowing where he was going by faith Sarah received the ability to conceive even in her old age by faith Abraham when he was tested offered up Isaac by faith Jacob was dying and blessed his son the sons of Joseph by faith Moses refused to be called called the son of Pharaoh's daughter by faith the walls of Jericho fell From a trumpet blast by faith Rayhab the herlut did not perish and then it was on to say and what more Shall I say for time would fail me to tell of Gideon barracks and Samson? Jeff Jeff Jeff of David of Samuel and of the prophets so all of the Old Testament scriptures all of them trusted the living God and He delivered a good result Then we get to the New Testament in the New Testament and I just picked a few of these in the gospel of Matthew The faith in as we see it in Matthew's gospel Jesus teaches his followers to faith in God who provides for every need Matthew chapter 6 Matthew chapter 8 He heals a leper a leper says Lord if you were willing you could make me clean Jesus heals the servant of a centurion as well and marbles at his expression of faith He says I've not found such faith with anyone in Israel He saw the faith of a paralyzed man as his friends tore off the tiles from the roof and let him down and he says He said to him Your faith your sins are forgiven you and your faith has made you well pick up your bed and walk a woman who had a hemorrhage for 12 years She thought if I just touch if I have just this is an act of faith If only I just touch the hem of his garment just just the bottom part of this of his cloak as he walks by He stops he says take courage your faith has made you well Can you like woman comes to Jesus to implore over her demon possessed daughter? He says all woman your faith is great.
It shall be done for you as you wish That's just a few examples from the gospel of Matthew go through the scriptures and read the words of Jesus the experiences of Jesus And how he faithfully faithfully reached out to people who put faith in him you see faith is not just part of the Christian life It is all of it our whole life is tied up in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ first of all first salvation without faith in him We have nothing we believe the word of God. We trust in the death the resurrection of Jesus alone for our forgiveness Trusting as a believer that he will supply our every need It gives us victory in this life first John chapter 5 verse 1 Yeah, there it is sorry It's at the bottom there first first John chapter 5 Verse 4 and 5 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world and this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith Who is that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the son of God? Through faith we overcome the world. So here's my closing how do You and I and believe me this message hundred percent for me a hundred percent for me as I'm going through and preparing this I'm thinking man I wish I could say that I'm up there as the authority on faith.
I know it like I know this inside like a book I read a hundred times. I don't So I'm preaching here and I'm sharing with you First of all you need to cultivate your faith the scripture says that Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God Cultivate your faith Spend time in the word of God the word of God is what grows our faith read it listen to it meditate on it memorize it The more you feed the more your faith will grow feed your faith cultivated, you know I grow these prize-winning tomatoes well Two out of five thousand of them are prize-winning because I say that's the best tomato I've ever grown each year But you don't want to have to do every day every day. I have to go a little fertilizer around egg shells things like that To try to get these things going and then I put water on it every day water and every day Believe it or not there are weeds that come in and try to choke out these tomato plants that have in the yard every day You know your faith is no different you need to spend every day cultivating your faith getting the weeds out Adding the water let the Holy Spirit speak to you. Let the word of God speak to you Get into and under the word of God come to church.
Here the word of God Secondly confess your faith if you want to be pumped Share your faith with someone a co-worker a neighbor somebody on the street tell them about what God has done in your life it will it will Help you to grow in faith by sharing your own faith Develop a one-minute message of how you can tell people about what God has done in your life You know every time we think about what God has done in our life every time we encourage ourselves by saying the Lord has been faithful to me And here's what he has done. Here's why I trust him It does take you out of the emojis that we're not so happy It helps you to grow it helps you it may not take away the grief it may not take away the pain it may not take away the fear But you can face those things because the God of heaven has given you the strength The last thing is congregate with those of faith. Do you have friends of faith? Where do your friends come from?
Who do you hang out with? I? Had a co-worker and everybody thought oh wow these guys are inseparable. They're the closest of friends Oh, we went to coffee every day.
We chatted about things. I chatted with him about faith but When we got to this point that he's not interested It was bringing me down every time I talked to him and I listened to him and I listened to what he was Promoting and believing and and so on I thought this is this is actually taxing on my faith If you have chosen friends if you have chosen to be with people who are not friends of faith and I'm not saying do not have a friend That's not a person, please no we need to cultivate those friendships so that we can share Christ with them Otherwise my last point then ignore it But I don't want you to ignore the last one share your faith with your friends But do you have a circle of friends who will speak the word of God into your life? Or will they just get bummed out with you when you come and tell them how bad life is? Will they encourage you?
Will they strengthen you? Will they point you to the God of heaven? Will they get you spiritually excited and I want to speak to students you need this as a foundation Students you need to have friends of faith You need to have friends who are going to point you to the scriptures to point you to the Lord The last thing is do one thing for next year do one thing What what do you mean do one thing if you haven't been doing something? Don't just come on Sunday mornings at 11 o'clock and then head home and come the next Sunday morning at 11 o'clock Do something I'm telling you it'll help you grow in your faith there are Don't try to do everything don't say you know this year 2025 is your I'm getting involved in North work And I'm gonna I'm gonna do everything no no be a specialist find one thing be a specialist You know a couple of years ago I had a problem with my heart and if somebody came to me and says oh you need to go to this doctor Why he's good at everything he does everything he does ankles he does elbows he does eyes he does ears I mean he's even an ear no ear no since rock guy, but it's my heart.
I want a guy who does that well Not everything and not well Find one thing and do it well Sometimes we spread ourselves so thin trying to do all kinds of things that our efforts become useless Find one thing that the Lord directs you to do you want to build your faith come to prayer meeting come to prayer meeting There's one thing you can do if you've not come to prayer meeting in 2025 say I am going to commit myself to go into prayer meeting And praying with God's people seeing prayers answered seeing prayers given come to the lady study if you're a lady They don't let me in if you're a lady come to lady study if you're a man come to men study We had a wonderful wonderful time yesterday great discussion, but do one thing I Put this verse at the bottom because I spoke to me of sometimes how we can spread ourselves So thin trying to do rush around to do everything and we don't focus on the one important thing now It happened that when he went this is Jesus went to a certain village and a certain woman named Martha welcomed him to her house And her sister was called Mary who also sat at the feet of Jesus and heard his word But Martha was distracted with much serving and she approached him and said Lord Do you not care that my sister has left me alone? Therefore tell her to come and help me Jesus answered her and said Martha Martha you are worried and troubled about many things But one thing is needed. That's where I got the idea of one thing one thing is needed and Mary has chosen the good part Which will not be taken away from her? Maybe you're good thing.
Maybe you're one thing is to come to the Lord's Supper Maybe it's to come to prayer meeting maybe it's to find Friends who are believers because you haven't been doing that Find that one thing and serve the Lord with all your heart in that one thing and I guarantee you he will lead you into other things As you go into the new year Maybe we do so serving the Lord Jesus and if you don't know him May you end this year by coming to him and a new start in the Lord Jesus Christ father Thank you this morning that we can be together for one last Sunday for this year Lord we we look forward to you coming back We look forward to that day when we do not have new years because we will be in eternity with you forever But father While we were here while we are here help us to serve the Lord Jesus Help us to put our faith and trust 100% in him father. I believe there are people here who don't know Christ I believe that there are people here who have never come to faith in him Maybe they're trusting in their good works. Maybe they're trusting in something else their religion other belief Maybe they just don't know just think well, maybe it'll work out in the end But your word is very clear It is only through the Lord Jesus Christ Only through faith in him That one can be justified that one can have forgiveness of sins And I pray this morning if there's anybody here who doesn't know Christ That they will come to him coming to know the Savior While we are closing I just ask if there's anybody here who doesn't know Christ and you want to know him And you want to come to him and you think I'm not so sure I understand fully how this is is to happen How this is to work there are people here who will talk to you Talk to myself talk to John talk to some of the other ladies that are here Talk to Erica talk to talk to any of the ladies Bertha Raylene there are tenukai there are many ladies here who can point you to Jesus Christ There are many men here who can point you to Jesus Christ And I would ask that if you are wondering about these things and you want to know him That you would seek out somebody to talk to today Father, thank you for your faithfulness in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen