Are You a World Changer?

Notes: Are You a World Changer?

Hebrews 11

SPEAKER:

Greg Laurie

MUSICAL GUEST:

Phil Wickham

WORSHIP TEAM:

Harvest Worship Band

SERIES:

WorldChangers

Sunday, August 7, 2016 — 8:00 a.m.

Are you a thermostat or a thermometer?

A thermometer is influenced by its surroundings, a thermostat affects its surroundings.

Are you changing culture or is culture changing you?

Hebrews 11 speaks to us about people that have changed the world through faith. Like Enoch, Jacob, Moses, Joseph and Sarah and others.

The olympics are going on in Rio right now. 

Heb 12:1 NKJV Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Those in The Hall of Faith, were not super heroes, they were men of great faith and super things happened around them.

Gideon was a frightened farmer and Moses was a fugitive.

Many of them did not start the race of faith well, but they all finished well.

They all fell a few times in their races. They all received scars during their race before they received medals.

Like a new believer, we have all been justified and can get up and finish our race well.

1 John 5:4 NKJV For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

The more you use your faith the stronger it becomes. Kind of like muscles, use them or lose them.

Jude 20-21 NKJV But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Faith means doing things. Praying. Staying. Keeping.

Many people are all show and no go with faith. If you want to be a World Changer you need to use faith.

Hebrews 11New King James Version (NKJV)

By Faith We Understand

11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.

3 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.

Faith at the Dawn of History

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; [a] for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

Faithful Abraham

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

1.Faith does things.

Faith has to be put to use.

You can’t run and stand still at the same time. 

Its easy to tell others to have faith.

2.Faith grows stronger through testing.

James 1:2-3 NKJV My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Your faith will grow through a series of test and trials.

Jeremiah 12:5 NKJV “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, Then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, In which you trusted, they wearied you, Then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?

If you want to run with horses, then don’t hang out with jackasses.

3.What is faith?

Faith sees invisible things!

Knowing that an apology will lead to healing in your marriage.

Faith is the evidence of things hoped for.

4.Faith comes by hearing and obeying Gods word.

Romans 10:17 NKJV So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

You have to go to church with an open heart.

5.Faith can make the difference between something happening and not happening.

The Bible tells us Jesus did no miracles in His home town. 

Where there is faith, God will work, where there is no faith there are no works. 

With faith you will receive what you need in life.

People that take their faith and put it into action see things happen.

When we don’t reach out to God in faith, not much happens.

The first hero in the Hall of Faith is you!

Heb 11:6 KJV But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

6.Our faith must be in God.

Even the nonbeliever uses faith everyday. 

When you are on an airplane, you have faith in the pilot and the plane. When you go through a green light, you have faith that the person in the other direction will stop at the red light. 

Abel is the first mentioned by name in the Hall of Faith.

Gen 4:7 NKJV If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

Sin can strike in a moment. 

1 Peter 5:8 NKJV Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 

Ephesians 4:26-27 NKJV “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. 

7.Living by faith has a price.

If you are going to be a Christian, then be a Christian. If you are going to live in this world, then live in this world face the consequences and end up in Hell. Choose what you are going to do and commit to it. Chose being a Christian and be a world changer!

Gen 4:9 NKJV Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

A Christian is a walking epistle, written by God and read by men.

When you go to a funeral of a nonbeliever it is such a sad event. When you go to the funeral of a believer there is the joy of knowing that the person is in Heaven.

We should have faith in God because He will sustain you through life.