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🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 Gotta take that off. Alright, so again, welcome to church service. If you can please take your hymnals, we have a special song leader, first time song leader, coming to help us out this afternoon. So, Lockie has volunteered. I didn't ask him, he volunteered. He came and said, hey, I'd like to try the song lead. So, let's invite Lockie to come up here and let's get behind him. Try to sing as loud as you can, help him, support him as a song leader. Let's see how you go, Lockie. Let's get this on here. Alright. Everyone, open your hymns to 410. Faith is the victory. Way note, 411. Hold the fort. 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 Good singing everyone Turn to 245 The old account was settled Lord I pray that the sermon will be blessed with your soul I pray that you will fill Kevin's spirit Pastor Kevin's spirit with your spirit I pray that everyone will understand the sermon And just now pray Amen 245 the old account was settled 🎵Music🎵 The only count was seven, was ten, ten, eighty-three. My name was at the top, and many things below. I went from two to fifty-five, and settled long and good. Long ago, I got a heartache. Long ago, I settled. The only count was settled. Long ago, I had a dream. And the record's clear today. All the voices feel great. The only count was settled. Long ago. The only count was settled. Long ago. I was in the city, and never tried to pay. But when I walked ahead, I saw the dream come true. I settled. I settled long ago. Long ago. Down my knees, walking down the street. The only count was settled. Long ago. I had a dream. And the record's clear today. All the voices feel great. And the only count was settled. Long ago. I had a dream. I'd be home. My savior's on the path. I'll sit here, just to sit here. It's quite a snow, because I can't come settled. The dream was long ago. The only count was settled. Long ago. Long ago. Down my knees. Long ago. I settled. Long ago. I had a dream. And the record's clear today. All the voices feel great. And the only count was settled. Long ago. There's a little trust of God. He cleans up all your sins. But God's He has provided you. When you're too late to rest, you're late to sleep alone. He's given up. After you've been all afraid. And the only count was settled. Long ago. Down my knees. Long ago. I settled. Long ago. I had a dream. I had a dream. And the record's clear today. All the voices feel great. And the only count was settled. Long ago. And the record's clear today. Long ago. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. And I can read my title clear. Excellent. Okay, Brother Callum's coming up to the reading. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Oh, I've got the mic here for you. Yeah, great job, Lockie. Definitely better than my first attempt. Alright, 2 Corinthians chapter 5. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God and house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked for we that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened not for that we would be unclothed but clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing as God who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit therefore we are always confident knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are also absent from the Lord for we walk by faith not by sight. We are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things done in the body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we persuade men but we are made manifest under God and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. For we commend not ourselves again unto you but give you occasion to glory on our behalf that you may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance and not in heart. For whether we be beside ourselves it is to God or whether we be sober it is for your cause for the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that if one died for all then we are all dead and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh yea though we have known Christ after the flesh yet now henceforth know him no more therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things have passed away behold all things have become new and all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and have given to us the ministry of reconciliation to wit that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them and have committed unto us the word of reconciliation now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Let's pray. Heavenly Father God we thank you for this chapter in your word it's a powerful chapter Lord and I just pray for our pastor as he comes up and preaches and expounds on this Lord that we be attentive be with us fill us with your Holy Ghost and fill him with your Holy Ghost so that we all may be edified by the sermon in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Thank you brother. Alright before I get into the sermon I just want to just a few quick announcements. Number one just a reminder I mentioned this on Wednesday so probably Tuesday I'm going to make an effort to come here and we're just going to get rid of a lot of clutter a lot of stuff here I'm going to change the flooring in the baby mother's room as well it has a foul stench in there so that needs to be replaced Brother Cladnick's doing some work for me trying to get some flooring some cheap flooring for us that's good quality but not too expensive for the church we're going to get that replaced I'm saying this now because if you've got anything around the church that belongs to you that's a personal item please take it home with you today otherwise it might end up in the tip I don't know I'm not going to discriminate whatever I find that I feel like it shouldn't be here in the church building it's going to the tip so please be mindful say you like a wallet or a phone or something I'm going to be careful but just anything else if I just find a random sock out there or something if I just find a random hat just laying around it's probably going to go in the bin or a random tie I found ties just laying around I can't remember if they're mine or not but anyway just stuff like that just things please take it home again when it comes to food items if you bring any food any biscuits any drinks please take it with you at the end of the service as well because I don't like those things fermenting and then it invites the insects invites the rodents in the building let's try to do the best we can to keep this building nice and tidy so that's the first announcement the next announcement that I wanted to mention it was actually brought brother Mike this is for you to know but this was brought up by one of my by Nicholas actually so the new the new bibles that we're going to hand out to the to the converts new converts at the door don't hand any of them out yet please don't hand any of them out yet please don't hand any of them out yet because huh oh can you go to that house now I'm just looking at the back page frequently asked questions how do I become a Christian oh no it's simple okay I like that it's simple but not easy not easy first you must confess that you're sinful okay yep good and have failed to honour God as you should what does that even mean you haven't honoured God I mean look even if you're a Christian even a safe person does not honour God sometimes I mean every time we sin we're not honouring God you know so I mean what does that mean to honour okay we're not honouring God the way we should next you must repent agree you must repent but what do they define repentance as turn away from sin and selfishness so you've got to stop being selfish you know you've got to start putting others ahead of you you know you've got to stop you're not going to clean up your life you've got to stop sinning no one that's not easy right if this is the gospel that's not easy brethren I mean I wake up selfish every morning I have to remind myself to give myself to the work of the Lord or to others you know put my family first and then it says and trust God so that's step number one then so step number one is you know you've got to clean up your life then you must believe Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient to save you if it's sufficient to save you why do you have to do step number one anyway to be your Lord and Saviour that's it and then it says why will praying and going to church naturally flow from your decision to follow Christ but what about those that don't go to church are they not saved like is trusting Christ alone and not going to church not enough to be saved do you have to do these extra things to be to have that confirmation of salvation or is your confirmation simply on the death burial resurrection of Jesus Christ and so please don't hand these out just yet I think what we'll do is make an effort to get like a marker or something and just cross that bit out I don't know maybe I'm going to have to read a little bit more at the back and see if there's anything else that kind of doesn't fit obviously biblical doctrine yes brother do you want to say something I got rid of them because we've got new ones yeah I don't want actually if you had a look at them they're already starting to bend I think it's the humidity in this place they start to they start to bend and because it gets a little moist but yeah what we really want to do with these is just keep them for new believers go so it's a soul winning tool alright come to church I know a few of you guys have this now but just get in the habit bring your own bible you know that's the best habit to have anyway it's actually easier having your own bible you know you sort of know where to go usually when you've got your own bible anyway anyway those are the key announcements that I wanted to make so just be careful of these bibles until we get them all marked out alright into the sermon now let's go to the sermon now brother Callum read for us 2nd Corinthians chapter number 5 2nd Corinthians chapter number 5 and I just want to pull out just a couple of thoughts there actually let's read verse number 7 first it's in parenthesis for we walk by faith not by sight the title for the sermon this afternoon is walk by faith not by sight walk by faith not by sight let's get a little bit of context there look at verse number 6 therefore we are always confident now if you're confident about something you know it's true alright you know something is so true we are confident what knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord for we walk by faith not by sight this is again we are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord so what kind of confidence does Paul have when he says these things he says look if I pass on when my soul and spirit leave this body I am confident that I'm going to be in the presence of the Lord that's why he says we walk by faith not by sight have you ever seen the Lord with your eyes? have you ever seen heaven? have you ever seen a soul or spirit leave the body? we've not seen these things have we? we've not seen these things you know what do we have? we've got this book we black ink alright we put our trust on this I've never seen Christ crucified I'm not talking about the Hollywood movies I've never seen Jesus born in Bethlehem have you? I've never seen God create things in the six days that he created all things I've never seen those things I've never seen Moses part the Red Sea and yet the Bible tells us all these things took place but you know what? in my heart I have full confidence that these things took place full confidence I have full confidence that Jesus came some two thousand years ago and laid down his life for me I have full confidence that he was beaten he was crucified his blood was shed he was buried I have full confidence that he came back from the dead just as confident as I am of seeing you seated in church today I have the same trust confidence I have the same belief that Jesus Christ came two thousand years ago and did that all for me I have full confidence that everything that I read in the Bible is one hundred percent true you know and like I've never seen these things have you seen them? you know this is why the Bible says we walk by faith not by science in fact in order to be saved the very first thing you must do is place your faith on someone you've never seen you know you're placing your faith hey faith comes by here in and here in by the word of God hey if we want to increase in our faith we must hear the word of God in order for someone to believe in Jesus Christ and trust in our Saviour they must hear the gospel message coming from the word of God that's where faith comes from it comes from this amazing book this wonderful book okay it teaches us it increases our faith but hey yes we were saved by faith and that's a wonderful thing we've trusted that to be true true for us you know we're trusting Christ for salvation Paul has okay but what else did we learn? we said there that we walk by faith not by science you see salvation is not a walk salvation is a one-time event you place your faith on Jesus you're born again but when it comes to the rest of your Christian life we are walking we are so generous we're passing through we're walking and sometimes we walk by faith sometimes we walk by science sometimes we walk in the ways of the Lord sometimes we walk after our own sinful flesh okay but regardless of how we walk in life if you place your faith on Jesus you are saved regardless of how you walk hey but I'm not saying that hey being saved should be the end of it I'm saying that once you have placed your faith on Christ now you need to walk by faith and not by science now this is one of the biggest challenges that I find in the Christian life okay to actually walk by faith to make decisions based on faith okay because by sight makes a lot more sense you know we often make decisions because of a logical decision things that are brought before our attention things that we can touch things that we can see things that we can you know think about that may develop in the future often our life is dependent upon sight and there's nothing wrong or sinful with making decisions based on sight don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with that Jesus gave us eyes he's given us a mind he's given us the ability to reason and so many decisions here we do make by sight but listen that is not the sole way that we walk as Christians if we're going to walk after the Lord he wants us to exercise our faith it is impossible to please God without faith we must have faith in order to please God it's the hardest thing to do you know to make certain decisions not because it necessarily makes logical sense but we make decisions because we know it's in accordance to God's will you know in accordance to God's ways and the best way because people ask me how do I know if I'm stepping out in faith? well the number one way as I explained to you faith comes by hearing hearing by the word of God you know if you've got a decision to make and you know that maybe it doesn't make logical sense okay but what you want to do is test it in accordance to God's word is it compatible with God's word? is it compatible with the will of God? you know is this decision I'm going to make is it contrary to God's will? obviously if it's contrary to God's will you cannot step out by faith because you're not doing it by faith our faith comes from God's word you know God allows us to make so many decisions in life if those decisions line up with God's word then you are free to step out in faith and say Lord I've tested this in accordance to your word I believe this is the way you want me to walk I'm going to walk in accordance to your will your way and you have to test it out you know you have to place your faith and trust that God will come through and see you on the other side the biggest step that I've ever had to make walking by faith was starting this church you know to leave the comforts of Sydney to leave what I know to leave the people that I know and make a decision to come up here and start a church I mean look I'm not saying that I'm some hero a lot of people, many people have done this many pastors have stepped out in faith gone and started a church in an area and got things going and there's a lot of risk you know when you've got a larger family there's a lot of risk you know am I able to get enough work am I able to provide am I able to look after you know are people going to attend the church can I even preach you know X amount of times every week you know can God use me for these things you know am I going to be successful as a pastor am I going to fail there are so many thoughts and just making a move just moving from city to city from city to city is enough of a work enough of a labour you know finding a place to start a church finding a place to live all of these things required me to honestly just take a step in faith and you know if I was just reliant if I was just reliant on sight it would never have happened never would have happened you know the church down in Sydney it's another step in faith you know going there and look you know I don't really enjoy the travel right now I'm travelling every week back and forth okay I've committed to that I've committed that for ten years I told the church down there well it's already almost four years so we've got six years to go but you know it's not something I really enjoy I don't really enjoy waiting there in the airport you know flights are delayed sitting there I've been jammed into an aircraft now wearing the masks you know and then trying to get my way out of the airport when you land in Sydney and maybe catching a train getting picked up sometimes by the time I'm preaching on Thursday I'm exhausted just from the travel it's not something that I necessarily really enjoy okay but what I do enjoy is being a blessing to God's people what I do enjoy is being able to preach and help somebody in their understanding of the Bible you know being amongst other believers knowing that there's a church in Sydney that's going out preaching the gospel like we are and winning souls and then I get excited about those little things but you know what if I did not step out in faith in that area if this church remember you guys felt it was the right decision to make to go and start that church we stepped out in faith it's a bit of a risk right a new pastor I think it was like eight months as a pastor just trying to get this church together stepping out and going to start another church you know and I truly believe that and I have the confidence that a man will rise that God has someone in mind that will take over that church it just requires patience but as we mature in the Lord you know we start to make these decisions by faith and then we do see the Lord come through on the other side even though sometimes it may not make logical sense okay alright can I get you to please turn to Romans chapter 1 turn to Romans chapter 1 I just wanted that one thought from 2 Corinthians 5 there but please go to Romans chapter 1 please go to Romans chapter 1 and verse number 16 we're just turning to a very familiar passage to many of us Romans chapter 1 verse number 16 Romans chapter 1 verse number 16 the Bible says for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greek man that would have been so much better to have that in the back of the Bible instead of whatever we read in there okay I mean that's it salvation it's the gospel it's believing it's salvation it's believing the death and resurrection of Jesus hey to the Jew first also to the Greek regardless of who you are it's the same message that saves verse number 17 for therein is the righteousness of God revealed and I love this from faith to faith as it is written the just shall live by faith so we have two thoughts our first thought there is about salvation the fact that by believing on Jesus believing the gospel is what saves us but the next thought is that the just shall live by faith it's not just being saved which is wonderful but the next step is to live in accordance to faith to place your faith on the word of God and take the steps necessary to be closer to the will of God going from faith to faith the faith that saved you to walk in a life of faith and it's not easy it's not easy it's not easy because again you might say hey I know God's word says so I know God says I've got to walk in accordance to God's will but many times your friends your family people that know you they may stop you say what are you doing it doesn't make any sense why? because they're operating by sight and again there's nothing wrong with sight many decisions are made by sight but you must understand as a Christian we also make decisions by faith we walk by faith you know every day is a day that you can practice your faith walking in accordance to God's will can I get you to turn to Matthew chapter 6 please turn to Matthew chapter 6 as I said to you the title of the sermon was walk by faith not by sight and I know it's hard I know it's very hard to make certain decisions that don't make logical sense sometimes where sight is not clear but you're just stepping out in faith because you know the promise of God's word I'm going to quickly read to you while you turn to Matthew 6 I'm going to read to you from Acts 14 21 it says why do we need to practice our faith? why must we continue in our faith? because there's much tribulation in this world there are many sorrows there are many difficulties that we go through life can be challenging you know I've said financial problems health problems relationship problems there's so many struggles and issues that come up in our life car problems there's so many things that come and in order to be able to get through to the other side you know with a cheerful heart we must practice faith we must walk in faith you know my job as a pastor is to exhort you to continue in the faith the reason I read that passage is because I like the fact that Paul is going from city to city visiting different churches and that's how I feel at the moment still going from city and Sunshine Coast back and forth again I'm not a hero I'm not going to as many cities as Paul is okay and trying to run multiple churches trying to get pastors in place for that I've only got two to look after but it's a lot of hard work you know it's a lot of hard work and as I said to you in my flesh I don't enjoy it in my flesh I don't enjoy the travel but once again I do enjoy the fact that it allows another group of believers down in Sydney to fellowship to work together to do a work for God to bring people into the kingdom that gives me a lot of joy you know I'd love to start other churches in other places in Australia but you know what it requires a measure of faith to step out and to see what God says and to see God open the doors and to do that hey maybe it's not my job maybe it's the job of some other man in this church or the job of a man there in Sydney I'm not sure but I want to encourage you to increase in your faith I want to encourage you to walk in faith again faith is not oh I think I'll just do X, Y and Z and I'll just do it no faith means you go to God's word you confirm this is what God's will is for you and you just step out and do it say God I've seen it in your word Lord you can open the doors I'm going to step out and trust you because I'm trusting your word okay I'm not trusting the intellect that comes from man you're there in Matthew 6 Matthew 6 verse 30 so if we want to walk in faith we need to increase in our faith there are several stories in the Bible where the Lord Jesus Christ speaks of people's little faith okay so I want to have a look at these stories why does Jesus Christ sometimes refer to people as having little faith and then maybe you can identify yourself in that situation and you know man I have to increase in my faith then okay if I'm struggling in some of these areas Matthew chapter 6 verse number 30 through the Gentiles seek you know what if you start to worry about these basic little things Jesus Christ would say to you oh ye of little faith you see it's God's job to provide these things for us obviously a man has to go out and work obviously you have to do these things what God has instructed us to do you know to walk in faith doesn't mean just wait for the man to come from heaven no to walk in faith is God what does your word say man you go to work you provide for your family you do that and God will make sure that your most basic needs are taken care of your food and your clothing I'm reminded of the empty shelves right the wool wharves and the coals and the empty shelves during the panic of the pandemic you know what and I don't know how did you react to that brethren when you started to see on the news these shelves are empty the meat's all gone you've gone to the shops and there's no toilet paper how did you react our year of little faith I'm sure some of us panicked I'm sure there was some man am I going to take care of my needs or am I going to take care of my family man it was so hard when there were restrictions and the limits you know I think it was like you can only take two jars of pasta sauce and boy when my family's eating pasta we need four or five jars of pasta sauce and it's like man you can only take two so I go to the car walk back in take another two I just made it twice as hard all these limits you can only have this many eggs man I felt like showing people this is my family you know but you know if that panic ever fell upon you I don't know you know this unsaved world they panicked didn't they they panicked they're emptying out the shelf they're filling up and look there's nothing wrong with having a full stock of food like a full shelf of food it's just for those maybe harder days I'm not saying that you know the absolute minimum or something like that it's fine to have a little bit in your pantry and things like that but really it depends upon the Lord like even if the shelves are being emptied out I just know that God's going to provide you know but these are things that people sometimes get concerned about and I'm just trying to show you that if this was a concern of you then Jesus Christ would say of you oh ye of little faith you see you need to increase in faith you need to be able to trust God that as long as I'm doing exactly what the Lord wants as far as being a provide for me and my family then God's going to make sure it's all taken care of can you please go to Matthew 14 Matthew chapter 14 please Matthew chapter 14 and verse number 28 Matthew chapter 14 and verse number 28 Matthew 14, 28 it says and Peter answered him and said Lord if it be thou bid me come unto thee on the water this is an amazing story I think a lot of people are amazed at this story okay Jesus Christ the disciples are on the ship Jesus Christ comes walking on the water Peter sees Jesus walking on the water and goes I want to do some of that as well I want to walk on the water it sounds awesome you know I want to see this miracle in my own life this ability to overcome the laws of physics here okay and then verse number 29 and he said come Jesus said yeah come alright and when Peter was come down out of the ship he walked on the water to go to Jesus isn't that amazing now we know that Jesus okay Jesus is the son of God he's God manifest in the flesh but Peter a man like you and I was able to walk on water that's amazing alright it's amazing you know what happens I want you to notice what happens so he's able to walk on water his focus is on Jesus right his focus is on Jesus I'm walking toward Jesus and he's able to accomplish an amazing thing by faith to walk on water and notice what happens there in verse number 30 but when he saw the wind boisterous he was afraid and beginning to sink he cried saying Lord save me and immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and said unto him O thou of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt and when they were come into the ship the wind ceased what I feel again sometimes I feel sorry for people in the Bible I mean Peter's done something that I'm never probably going to do at least not in this life maybe the new resurrected body we can walk on water I don't know but Peter's able to he's able to take some steps on the water and even then Jesus Christ says little faith O ye what did he say exactly O thou of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt now obviously there was a moment of great faith trust in Jesus his focus was on Jesus alright I'm walking toward Jesus regardless of what you know my sight tells me sight should tell me if I step on water I will sink but I've got the faith that I'm going to be able to walk right on water toward Jesus and he was able to take a few steps and brethren this is what you need in order to increase in your faith you just have to set your focus your eyes on Jesus and say Jesus what do you want me to do what does your word say Jesus Christ is the word of God okay manifest in the flesh what do you want me to do Jesus you write you see it you know what God's will is and you step out and you'll be able to walk on water symbolically okay you'll be able to do great things for God simply because you've trusted and you've placed your eyes on Jesus alone Jesus what do you want me to do regardless of what sight tells you as long as God's word lines up with your decision to make that step God's going to see you through but why does Jesus Christ say O thou of little faith because when Peter saw the wind the boisterous he was afraid when he saw the waters when he saw the waves when he saw the storm he got distracted his eyes moved away from Jesus and he started to think about how difficult I mean the challenge of the storm the wind's blowing he got distracted his eyes lost focus on Jesus Christ and then he began to sink that's why Jesus Christ says O thou of little faith and brethren we cannot be distracted by this world there are turmoils there are problems there are wars there are so many things brethren there's always problems in this world you know what one of the best things you can just do is turn off that TV turn off that internet for a while and just set your eyes on Jesus I promise you tomorrow there's going to be a new disaster tomorrow there's going to be a new turmoil tomorrow there's going to be a new conflict tomorrow there's going to be a new variant of the COVID virus or whatever other new virus comes out tomorrow there's always going to be some other problem and brethren if you want to increase in your faith you say you know what I'm going to shut all that off I don't want to be distracted by the storms of life I'm going to set my eyes on Jesus and you'll be able to do some miraculous things walking by faith taking those steps that you otherwise thought impossible we cannot be distracted this world is so distracting there is so much propaganda there is so much programming there is so much content to be consumed on the internet and all of that there serves the purpose to distract your eyes from Jesus Christ so when you take off your eyes off Jesus Jesus Christ would say to you O thou of little faith please go to Matthew 16 go to Matthew 16 verse 5 Matthew 16 verse 5 Matthew 16 verse 5 says that when his disciples were come to the other side they had forgotten to take bread so they've got no food verse number 6 then Jesus said unto them take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees so leaven we know that's like yeast a type of yeast and he's talking about the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees so we know the Pharisees and Sadducees did not well most of them the majority of them did not trust Christ many of them were enemies of the Lord many of them were reprobate and so the leaven is their false doctrine we understand that but in hindsight we understand Christ is speaking about the false doctrine the false teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees but look how the disciples respond verse number 7 and they reasoned among themselves saying is it because we have taken no bread? like why would Jesus use the word leaven okay we forgot bread maybe that's what he's saying right he's kind of like this is he being a little bit critical by the fact that we forgot bread okay verse number 8 which when Jesus perceived he said unto them O ye of little faith why reason ye among yourselves because ye have brought no bread do ye not yet understand neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets ye took up neither the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many baskets ye took up so that's like oh man we forgot the bread Jesus having a go at us for forgetting the bread Jesus look don't you remember we fed five thousand men plus women and children another time we had seven loaves and we fed four thousand men right with seven loaves women and children as well right he says look you know you've got little faith if you think I'm so concerned by the fact that you forgot the bread okay why were they struggling why did Christ say that they had a little faith because they had forgotten the miracles that God has already done in their lives they've forgotten the wonderful miracles that Jesus Christ performed right in front of them and brethren we all have an experience okay I'm not talking about some Pentecostal experience but we've all you know we've been saved right we've seen the hand of the Lord hey we had a salvation today for the men hey that's a miracle that's a miracle isn't it salvation praise God a soul going to heaven you know God has done so much for us he's you know we've we've gone to prayer and God has answered the prayer I'm sure there are things that you've gone to God about and you've seen his hand perform such miracles you know what when you're struggling with faith you need to remind yourself go back to the past God has come through for me before God has done X, Y and Z for me before I know he can do it again okay but we struggle with that don't we brethren because we walk by sight sometimes so how can God do what I need him to do well because he's done it before he's done it in the past he's fed the 5,000 he's fed the 4,000 no bread's not a problem for the Lord God and so when you find yourself lacking in faith unable to walk in faith I want you to remember what God has done in your life say well I'm not sure what he's done well are you saved that's an amazing miracle the confidence of knowing that you're going to heaven hey you've got a burden that most people in the world have they don't know what the future holds they're hoping the scientists will come up with some plan to long to for life's future for life to continue you know freezing brains and freezing bodies or downloading people's memories into a computer based system you know these are the stupid things that this world thinks about they haven't got the truth of God's word we have the confidence that if I left this body that I will be in the presence of my Lord that's a huge burden off our shoulders isn't it yeah it is you know God at least he saved you can we start there okay do you think that's all God wants to do hey he wants to save you now he wants you to walk in his ways and he can do amazing miracles for you just remember the great things that God has done in your past and that will increase your faith for the future can you please go to Matthew chapter 8 go to Matthew chapter 8 verse number 23 Matthew chapter 8 and verse number 23 some of these are similar but Matthew 8 23 it says and when he was entered into a ship his disciples followed him and behold there arose a great tempest in the sea in so much that the ship was covered with the waves but he was asleep now look if I was one of the disciples all right there's a sea I know Jesus is in the ship I understand that but look the storm's so great that even the waves even the water started to come into the ship I mean again I feel sorry for people because I know I'd be like man we're gonna drown and I'm not a very strong swimmer so you know I'm probably done I'm probably finished at that point right where's Jesus oh he's sleeping verse number 25 and his disciples came to him and awoke him saying Lord save us we perish verse number 26 and he saith unto them why are ye fearful oh ye of little faith so what else did we learn when we're fearful Christ would say about you oh ye of little faith you know when you think you're going to Paris Jesus where are you sometimes it feels Jesus are you sleeping God where are you I need you now I need you to step in and do something amazing you know we're trying to wake up Jesus from his sleep save us you know there's no reason to be fearful when we have Jesus on our side and brethren yes Jesus slept because he was in a physical body with the same limitations that we have he needed his rest but you know what's wonderful about being a Christian we can anytime just go to the Lord in prayer say Lord help us Lord I'm a little bit afraid I'm a little bit fearful you know yes I am struggling with a little bit of faith right now Jesus can you please step in and help me can you please increase my faith we should turn to the Lord when we're fearful but understand at the end of the day there really is no reason to be afraid okay the one that we ought to fear of course is our Lord God the fear of the Lord is perfect converting the soul let's keep going there verse number 26 right now we have flooding again don't we some family in our church struggling there in Gympie with the floods you know what God is in control of the weather okay you know at the end times people are going to be afraid of the weather you know I kind of feel like our society is trying to get programmed in the idea oh the weather's out of control because of you know global warming or whatever or global cooling or whatever it is the hole in the ozone is there still a hole in the ozone layer I don't even know anymore but you know what my whole life I've been hearing how mankind is destroying the you know the planet you know every time you spray some deodorant you've destroyed the planet somehow the ozone layer or whatever it is that's all I hear about you know but here's the thing you know what you know what when we're fearful about the weather you know God says oh you have little faith Jesus just has to speak the words and he can change it immediately speak the words and it's all calm and it's all fine you know what if Jesus wants to step in and fix the weather and do whatever he wants to with the weather so be it he can do what he wishes we don't need to be afraid okay we just have our dependence on Jesus know that he's there with us you know fear is a sign that you're struggling in your faith okay fear God fear God first of all and you'll notice that the rest of your fears will die away okay can you please turn to Matthew chapter 10 Matthew chapter 10 actually no go to Matthew chapter 8 please go to Matthew oh you are in Matthew 8 look at verse number 8 so we've looked at some passages where Jesus Christ speaks about little faith and again I see myself in that category I can see myself in a ship like I told you the water's coming in I can see myself being fearful alright so and I think if we're all honest there are certain times where we can probably say yep you know we're struggling with faith a little bit you know if we're to walk in faith then obviously having little faith is going to limit our ability to do that and we're going to be dependent on sight the waves roaring right the fears that upset us but I want you to now notice Jesus Christ speaks of another man this time not about his little faith but by his great faith and this is Matthew 8 Matthew chapter 8 verse number 8 it says it says the centurion and of course it's about the centurion hey he's a Roman he's a Roman centurion he's a Gentile is he not centurion you know it's like the word century means a hundred you know this guy's a commander of about a hundred soldiers that's why they're given these titles of centurion the centurion answered and said Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof but speak the word only and my servant shall be healed isn't that amazing you know Jesus would actually go and physically touch somebody and heal him you know the Roman centurion says you know what I'm not worthy for you to even come into my house Jesus I know if you just speak my servant will be healed I mean that's faith that requires a lot of and he's not even a Jew right he's a centurion verse number 28 sorry verse number 9 sorry he says for I am a man under authority having soldiers under me and I say to this man go and he goeth and to another come and he cometh and to my servant do this and he doeth it so he goes look I know my own experience because I have authority that what I ask my servant to do they will do it what is he saying he says Jesus you've got authority I've got authority I know things happen when I call the shots but Jesus I know you've got authority you just have to speak and my servant will be healed and then it continues there in verse number 10 when Jesus heard it he marvelled and said I always wonder like when Jesus says he marvelled Jesus is like man this guy like Jesus is like wow this guy has the faith this guy has trusted me right it says verse 10 when Jesus heard it he marvelled and said to them that followed verily I say unto you I have not found so great faith no not in Israel out of all the people Jesus Christ has come across as he's preaching the gospel as he's doing miracles and great works this is the man with the greatest faith that he's come across and he's not even a Jew isn't that amazing he trusted Christ why did he have such great faith because he knew that Jesus was a man of authority he knew that when Jesus speaks it gets done you know what Reverend one of the things that will increase your faith is to simply remember the power the authority okay Jesus Christ our King of Kings our Lord of Lords this world from our perspective looks like it's out of control but Jesus is above it all the Lord God looks down Lord God is not surprised at this world alright you know regardless of what prime minister we get after the elections next week regardless of that Jesus is still in charge he's still in control he's got the authority he can destroy that government if he wants he can pull down that politician he can rise up another man listen when it comes to authority there's no greater authority than our Lord God you know what if the authorities are giving you a hard time or you're becoming fearful of the authorities you go to the higher power you go to the higher authority which is the Lord God it's all in control of the Lord alright sometimes we get afraid because we think man the world what's happening in the world you know all these little things that are developing just trust the Lord it's in his hands say Lord I don't understand it all God we have wicked politicians we have wicked laws coming through but Lord it's in your hands I'm trusting you to do something great please see me through please help me to continue doing your works regardless of how this world is going it's in your hands the Lord God has the highest authority and I want to remind wives you know you've got a head over you that's your husband okay that's an authority hey but if your husband is not performing the way he should if he's not loving you the way he should if he's not being a spiritual leader the way he should go to his authority go to Jesus and say Jesus I need you to do a great thing in my husband's heart can you please change him can you please help him be a man that walks after his ways okay you know I'm fearful of that all the time I think about men okay my wife's under my authority I understand that but Jesus Christ is looking down at my performance okay Jesus Christ is the one that has authority over me and really Christ has authority over us all Christ has authority over this church Christ has authority over this world Christ has authority over all the governments all the power that is in this world Christ is above that there are concerns when I remember it's all within the hands of God he's got it under control the way he wants it to be can you please turn to Romans chapter 4 Romans chapter 4 please Romans chapter 4 verse number 19 someone else that had great faith we looked at someone in the New Testament someone in the Old Testament was Abraham referred to here in Romans chapter 4 verse 19 Romans chapter 4 verse 19 speaking of Abraham it says and being not weak in faith so if he's not weak in faith he's strong in faith right not being weak in faith he considered not his own body now dead meaning that his body cannot produce kids okay when he was about a hundred years old I mean what's the likelihood that you're gonna have kids when you're a hundred years old okay your body's dead in that regard right then it says neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb Sarah's run out of eggs okay she's run out of the ability to produce children she's gone from menopause there's no you know by sight this couple cannot have children but you know what Abraham was not weak in faith the Bible says here verse number 20 he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief so what causes unbelief causes us to stagger not trust the promises of God look at this but was strong in faith giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform and of course Jesus the Lord God gave Abraham and Sarah a child okay of course even in old age you know so what we see here to be strong in faith is to trust the promises of God to trust the promise you know what if God promises something from his word just go with it God said it it must be true I'm not making this up I'm not making up some life or some situation for me if God's word promises it it's true regardless of what my sight says regardless if my body is dead as it were if God promises it it's going to happen your trust in the promises of God his promises are found in the Bible Reverend if you're lacking in faith you need to get your head into the word of God you must read the promises of God and say you know what this is for me what God promised it's not just to some Abraham these promises aren't just to some David the promises aren't just to some you know Peter and Paul and John the promises are to me as well I have the power of the Holy Ghost within me I have the ability to understand the scriptures I have the ability to walk in faith even if it doesn't make sense logically it doesn't make sense by sight Reverend we've been given such a privilege to take steps and see the promise of God and say God I'm just going to do it regardless of what I think I'm just going to do what the word says and God's promise must be true it has to be true ok and when you can trust that you'll increase in faith you'll have great faith if you just trust the promises of God can you turn to Romans chapter 12 Romans chapter 12 verse number 3 Romans 12 3 I hope you can absorb some of this because I want us to be people that walk by faith you know I want us to be a little bit more faithful this week than we were last week a little greater faith you know an increase in our faith but just like anything in order for something to increase for you to get better at it you must put it into practice alright this is why we can't just be hearers of the word but we have to be doers we have to put it into practice we have to practice our faith ok you know sometimes we go door to door soul and we say you know some might say yeah I'm a Roman Catholic but I'm not a practicing Catholic what are they saying I don't put into practice I don't really do what the Catholic judge wants me to do alright we don't want to be non-practicing Baptists that's not what we want we want to be practicing Believers alright we want to practice what we've heard and we look at Romans 12 verse 3 Romans 12 verse 3 how can we practice this let me show you Romans 12 verse 3 it says for I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly according as God have dealt to every man the measure of faith Reverend every man every person in this church today has been given from God a measure of faith okay so we don't want to do things out of pride and out of self self strength we want to do things in accordance to God's will in accordance to God's strength in accordance to God's will God has given us all a different measure of faith what I'm starting to say here is we should not compare ourselves one to another because it's a different measure okay what could that different measure look like well let's keep going there it explains it to us in the passage here verse number 4 it says for as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office notice that not all the same office we're geared differently we're made differently we're created differently different skill sets different personalities you know verse number 5 so we being many are one body in Christ and everyone members one of another look at this verse number 6 verse number 6 notice that so some of us have been given the gift to preach but we're not going to preach exactly the same because let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith or according to the measure of faith this is what I'm saying don't compare ourselves one to another you know please don't take this view well who's preaching today I like this preacher I don't really like that preacher hey maybe he's preaching according to the proportion of faith that God has given him hey but he's putting it into practice is the point okay we had brother brother Lockie right now put into practice you know the ability to try to solid hey try to find is this a gift that God has given me you know let me find out let me try say yeah it's the first time the proportion's there you know I mean we've got to practice on these things right what has God given me how can I use that praise God I get excited when someone wants to do something just anything for the cause of Christ we're one members of one body soul winning praise God for you you know for those that went out today thank God for the soul that got saved again you know it's good to have a plan it's good to be organised all that is important but don't forget don't compare yourself one to another okay hey you can learn good things from one another but please never take this view of that person so much better soul winning than I am hey mate you practice in accordance to the proportion of faith that God has given you you know I'm like here trying to make everybody into a robot and you've got to greet people the same way and say things the same way you know and have the same you know ability to strike up conversation with people hey we can work on these things let's practice these things if God has given us a measure of faith let's put it into practice the more we practice it the better we'll get the more our faith will increase and the more our faith increases the more we can do for the Lord verse number seven or ministry let us wait on our ministry ministry is to serve one another hey maybe you know different areas of service within the church or he that teacheth on teaching or he that exhorteth on exhortation I love that as well you know some people have been given the gift to just exhort someone else what does that mean to build someone up to make someone feel better about themselves and some people have that gift right you might come to church not feeling that great you know didn't have a really great week and you've got a certain brother that comes alongside just encourages you you know well if you ever felt encouraged by a certain brother and you know that hey man every time I talk to this person I just get lifted up then you know they've been given this gift they've been given this measure of faith and praise God that they're practicing it praise God that they're using it to be an encouragement to be a friend to lift other people up to support other people he that giveth let him do it with simplicity hey some people have financially more than others and they're able to give more he that giveth hey it's a measure of faith hey but practice it right if God has given you a measure of wealth practice it give it give it to the work of God alright put it into practice we're not here to be selfish we're here to serve one another he that ruleth with diligence some have authority to be able to coordinate and get things together he that ruleth with diligence he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness you should know that as well you know some of us are more merciful to others than you know like we may have a measure of mercy and we put up with somebody but you know they've gone too far and for others if you're like he hasn't really gone that far like because we've got a greater measure of that faith we could be more merciful to other people so again I don't compare you know someone says oh man I've reached the end of my mercy that's all you've got you know but you've got to exercise that you know you've got to exercise so you can increase in that area as well you know let's never say that I just have no mercy that's a problem if you have no mercy okay but what I'm trying to show you brethren is that God has given us a measure of faith and I hate I hate it when Christians compare one another I hate it when Christians compare one family to another family when Christians compare children to other children it's the most stupid thing to do because God has made us all different he's given us different skill sets he's given us different measure of faith but brethren you know don't use the excuse I haven't been given much no what have you been given take what you've been given and practice it put it into practice increase in your faith increase in your service and I have no doubt if God sees you practice the measure of faith that he's given you he's going to increase it even more but why would God give you more skills more abilities if you don't even practice that God has already given you okay so we walk by faith it doesn't always make sense brethren but I hope I've given you some thoughts here of how you can apply these things or maybe you thought you were very faithful but then you looked at some of these stories when Jesus Christ says to others that they've had little faith and you go yeah man that's me I've been there you know I need to increase in my faith you know I'm very thankful for faith you know I know it's a term that gets thrown around a lot but I'm so thankful that I know that if I die I will be in heaven I know that if I'm struggling I can turn to God and he will hear me he will help me I have no doubt that you know if I've committed sin and I go to God and I confess that sin that he's going to forgive me right there and then you know what I have no doubt that if I serve you you know that I put my effort to preach God's word and to do what I can as a pastor with this office that God has given me that I'm going to get rewarded in heaven for the great things that God will look down upon and reward us each individually you know individually just take what you've got and use it it'll increase your faith God has given you that measure okay brethren let's pray Heavenly Father Lord I just want to thank you for your word Lord thank you for salvation thank you for faith thank you for that salvation is easy it's believe on Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved Lord and God I pray that we will take you know this simple practice of placing our faith and trust in Jesus and then we will take our faith Lord and apply it every single day of our lives to trust you to trust your word to trust your promises Lord if we're lacking in faith help us to turn to your word to read it to trust in the promises to step out in faith Lord even when sight says otherwise Lord help us to put into practice these things that you've given us thank you for the measure of faith help us to find the gifts that you've given each one of us Lord and to use it Lord for your kingdom we pray these things in Jesus' name Amen Alright brethren please take your hymnals and let's turn to hymn number 410 410 410 and let's sing faith is the victory faith is the victory 410 and let's sing faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith is the victory faith 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