FEB 5 2017 | Rooted S1E2

Sea Change Church · Rooted S1E2 · Adam Stadtmiller · February 5, 2017
Automated transcript. Not reviewed for accuracy.

That is from the Bible Project, and if you've not seen it, I want to encourage you to go to their website. They've created probably 15 or 20 videos. It's all free, and you can check it out. It simply explains very simple, I would say, fundamental concepts of Scripture. I wanted to begin to show it today, not only to give you a tool that you can send to friends, that you can watch yourselves, because one of the things we are passionate about here at La Jolla Christian Fellowship is the ability to resource you with, I would say, tools that equip you to live life out in what I guess they would call the real world.

And so this original story is where we're beginning, and what we did with our sexuality talk as well, is taking us back to an understanding of a faith-based life. Life, and that is the key, and we are in the second week now of a 10-week series called the Rooted Series. Many of you are part of a small group curriculum, which is more of an experience than it is a curriculum, that is challenging you to live your faith, boots on the ground, in a way that you've never done it before.

To reframe, to repackage, to reimagine, to put a subtitle on your life. If your life had a subtitle, whether it was Karen, or Tony, or Mike, subtitle after the colon, what would it say about you? The Rooted Series, and the reason we're taking the entire church through this 10-week series, and even if you're not part of one of the Rooted Groups, we're going to preach through it, is to give you that opportunity to change the corner in which you live.

And not only that, to redefine, at this stage in your life, who you are and what you are all about. Last week, my mother shared in the evening service, as our story from the corner, about how at the age of 50, she got sober. She left a life of alcohol and broken relationships and made a difference to change her life. And now at 80-something, and looking sharp, and I love that you rocked that long ponytail.

How much longer can that get? That is a rare commodity on an 80-year-old, trust me. Driving Miss Daisy, she had it, remember? But Jessica Tandy, going back, dating myself. My mom shared a brilliant story. We were part of that story, and it's never too late to redefine your life. Moses didn't lead the people out of Egypt until he was how old? Anybody know?

80 years old. So, not a late starter, but he got a lot accomplished after the age of 80. And so, we are going to give you, on a regular basis, the opportunity to redefine who you are. And so, the basics in regard to having a fundamentally faith-based life is to go back to a creation narrative. And so, I wanted to do it just like I did with a faith-based understanding of human sexuality.

Believing that God created for a reason, like they said in the video. And everything within this creation represents who he is. And so, a marriage or gender represents something about God. He took a piece of himself, and he implanted it into the expression of himself that in what is woman. And in woman, and through the lives of women, and what they are created to be, he represents himself.

And he says, see my beauty, see my majesty, see my power in woman. And he does the same with man. And to have this understanding is a faith-based understanding where we always need to have the core building block for our faith. And so, the core building block for our faith is just that. It is faith. And so, today, we're going to be talking about faith.

If you are going to rebuild your life, and maybe it just needs some tweaking, and maybe you need to actually just do some fine sanding. But other, you need to get out that chainsaw and just start hacking away like when they make those, I don't know, we go to Big Bear a lot, those sculptures. Thank you so much. I'm glad you're up here, Dan. You can just work there as my assistant when I forget things.

And when we go to Big Bear, they make those bear sculptures. And they're just up there all the time with the chainsaw. Maybe that's where you are today. But God is always calling us deeper. So, today, we talk about faith. And let's look at your notes with the first understanding as we are in Episode 2. Because this is an episodic series that is going to call you to build upon each block.

Episode 2 of the Rooted series takes us back to the beginning of time. So, let's go back to the beginning of time. If you remember, if you're a child of the 70s like myself, you remember Land of the Lost. Anybody remember? Marshall, Will, and who? Holly. I mean, not many people saw that show. To a time before time. Now, this is key, what I just said there.

The scriptures, and there's two scriptures that we're looking at today. Genesis 1 and 2. And also John 1, 1 through 4. These are parallel scriptures. John meant to recreate out of, in a new language, Genesis 1. I don't know if you know that. But John was, in his writing, went to Genesis 1. And he paraphrased it. He repackaged it for a new generation of believers.

And so, you will see that John 1, 1 through 4. And actually, John 1. Takes the Genesis 1 narrative and recreates it in a new way. And what I said here is in Episode 2, which we're going to see in John Chapter 1. Is a belief that there was a time before time. There was something before there was anything that was created. And to have a faith-based understanding.

It is key that we believe in a creator God. Who stood before time. And time is a created thing. He was outside of time. He exists in a place that is timeless. And when he spoke the world into creation. When he spoke time in creation. He also created a substance. That substance is called time. But to have a faith-based understanding. And we'll see as we go through the discussion today.

We have to believe that there is a God who stands beyond all of that. Now, let me tell you why this is crucial. Because when anything happens in your life that you don't understand. When something happens in the world that we don't understand. When you come up against a barrier in your life. And you don't know how you're going to get out of that.

Or the sea is rising above your head. And you feel like you're coming up for your last breath. Having a core understanding that says there is a God. There is a divine creator. Who is in charge of all this. And he is bigger than all of it. Puts you at rest. And gives you the ability to have faith. That is why it is so important. To have a core understanding.

That in the depth of your being. That whenever you come to push comes to shove. Or you come to that difficult place in your life. You have a go-to. And that go-to is I believe in a God who is beyond all this. Who is above all this. Has the power to fix it. And a God who loves me. And so knowing this. That we believe that there is a God who stands outside of everything that we see.

So in episode two. It takes us back to the beginning of time. To a time before a time. And asks us to consider a simple question. And here's the questions in episode two. Ask us. Do you accept that a divine creator started it all? And in order to do this. You have to have something called faith. And as we look at faith. I want to give a definition for faith.

Because faith it says in the scripture in Hebrews. Is believing in something that what? You cannot see. Faith is believing in something that you cannot prove. And we can go to as much seminary as we want. We can do as much scientific research as we want. But in the end. You are going to come to a decision point. Where you reach your inability to grasp something.

And at that point. You're going to have to have this little thing. Or this big thing. To step over that unbelief. To in a place called faith. It's the ability to believe what you can't see. And what you can't understand. And so faith in itself then. Is simple. Faith is simple. It's incredibly complex. Okay. We can talk about faith. And we can unpack it.

We can unwrap faith for the next six months here. And we will never get to the end of it. Why? Because it's created by God. And it's eternal. And you can swim in the deep fathoms of faith forever. But in the end. It will always bring you back to this. You know. I don't get it. I don't understand. I just believe it. I just believe it. And let me just say.

That is what so many humanists. And scientists. And people who are not of faith. Struggle with. It's why they call believers fools. Because the scripture even says. That this will be foolish. This idea of faith. Will be foolishness. It says to the Gentiles. And to the Jews. Speaking of Jesus. It said it would be a stumbling block. Look. The world today.

It is obvious. That it sees faith. As foolishness. But Paul says. I am willing to be what for Christ. I'm willing to be a fool. I'm willing to not have to understand. And we live in a world. That wants to understand everything. And let me say. In order to have faith. Let me give you the second building block. Besides believing. In a God beyond it all. Who can save you when you're in a fix.

Or who loves you. Because he has an eternal riches of love for you. The second thing. Is to believe. That God. Has the ability. To meet you. In that faith. That God not only wants you to believe it. But in the midst of believing it. The first step. Of believing that he's there. Believing. That he will meet you. And that faith. As it says in Hebrews. Will become a substance.

Now this is powerful. If you look. Into Hebrews. It says that faith is what? It says it's a substance. The simplicity of faith. It says. Actually becomes a substance. As real as concrete. That you will get to the point. Where even though you're living. In a simplicity of thought. Because to have faith. You have to have a simplicity of thought. The simplicity is.

I don't get it. I just believe it. You will come to that. That in the midst of that simplicity. That God says. That he will create something. That will become like bedrock. In your life. And he actually. Out of the nothingness. Creates a foundation. But once again. Let's go back to Genesis. Because did he not create the entire earth. That way. The word. Latin.

Being ex nihilo. Means to create something. Out of nothing. And so faith really. Is nothing. It's believing and saying. I can't see it. I don't. I don't. I can't prove it. I just blindly believe it. And I fall into nothingness. But in the midst of that. God has the ability. To create. Out of nothing. And that is so key. Because in the same way. Do you see. Do you see.

How God parallels. Faith. To the original creation. In the original creation. He created something. Out of nothing. We have bedrock. We have this. We have. We have the stars. We have the oceans. We have life. And out of the nothingness. Of a simple belief. To say. I'm willing to be simple. And say. I just believe in God. He will give you something. As it says.

In Hebrews 11. That becomes. A substance. And I don't know. How many of you. I won't ask you. To raise your hand. But I have been. To the point. Where that belief. Has become so strong. To me. In certain areas. And our faith wavers. It's not always there. Where eventually. It feels. As if it's a. Completely. Bedrock. In my life. It becomes a substance. And maybe you've experienced.

The substance of faith. Because that faith. It says. Not only becomes a substance. It gives you. The doorway. To eternal life. Do you see. That it starts with a simplicity. Of I just believe. I don't get it. But I totally believe. And out of that. God creates a substance. And that substance. Becomes eternal. More real than anything. In this world. Will ever be.

Because this. This world. Will pass away. Right. But. It says. That the. That. That we. Will be eternal. And live with God. Forever. And so faith. In the simplicity. Of faith. Becomes more real. Than anything. You can ever touch. Faith is more real. Than this pew. Faith is more real. Than the floor. Faith is more real. Than the air you breathe. Why? Because all those things.

Will pass. And your faith. The bedrock. Of your faith. Will become an eternal substance. Wow. The power of God. To create. Out of. Nothing. And so faith. Then is impossible. Without simplicity. Look at your notes. This is because. In the end. Of all of our searchings. And I stole that. From T.S. Eliot. One of my favorite. Poets. Says. He said. In the end. Of all of our wanderings.

Our searchings. We will return. To the place. Which we began. And truly know it. For the first time. And I have found myself. With my faith. On a regular basis. That happening. Let me explain. What that means to you. It means this. That we believe something. And then we leave that thing. To go search it. And to learn more about it. And we explore. The depths of God.

But in the depths of God. I seem to always come back. To the simplicity. Of thought. Of this. God loves me. God died for me. God's coming back for me. That Jesus is God. We come back to that. And so you'll see in the notes. That faith then. Brings us. That faith it says. Is impossible without simplicity. This is because. In the end of all of our searchings.

One must have decided. Believe in something. They cannot absolutely. Prove. I will also say this. Is in your notes. That faith is not rocket science. One of my. One of my. Fundamental principles. Of this entire series. And I think of me. Leading people. To know God. Is to take. Faith. From the rocket science category. And bring it to an area. Of simplicity.

That you can grasp. That you can put in your pocket. That you can take to work. That you can take to Starbucks. That you can take to the basketball court. And make it real. Einstein said. That genius is not understanding. The theory of relativity. He said. It is being able to explain it to what? The five year old. He said. It's not being able to understand those things.

Because if that was true. That the more you could understand. The closer to God you would be. It would mean that there would be a hierarchy. Of believers. Is that those that could understand. The smartest believers. Would be the ones closest to God. But instead. It's a heart issue. It's who can love the most. Who has the biggest heart. And those are the ones.

Who can be the most humble. It is so backwards. It is so antithetical. To anything the world. Wants to give us. It says. The more humble you can be. The more meek you can be. These will be the ones. Who will know me more. These will be the ones. Who understand me more. And faith. Is simple. Are you willing to be simple? Are you willing to. You know. Not that we don't.

You know. Throw the baby out with the bath water. We need to search. We need to research creation. God has proven himself. Over and over again. But one of the things we see. In the scripture. Is that God's. Reason for writing the Bible. Was not to prove himself. God's reason for writing the Bible. Assumes himself. And was to create relationship with you.

He didn't create the Bible. To prove himself. He didn't create the Bible. To answer a bunch of questions. The Bible was given to us. That we might know who he is. And that he might have relationship with us. So it's not rock and science. There's a simplicity of faith. And I will ask you this. Maybe it's time to get back. To the basics. What does it look like.

If you just start. Taking that extra 30 minutes. And go sit down at the water. And say. God reveal yourself to me. Or maybe just 10 prayers. Maybe prayers overwhelming to you. So you just write 10 prayers. Or. I don't know how to pray. So I'm just going to take the book of Psalms. And I'm just going to read the book of Psalms. I'm going to let David's prayers.

Be my prayers. Or. Or maybe it's just a little bit more forgiveness. Or maybe it's not being. Such a jerk on the basketball court. When you win. Which was me this week. I'm a good loser. I'm a bad winner. I've got to get better at that. We had a good week this week. And. If you understand that. But bringing. Faith back into your life. To do simple things.

It's not that hard. It's the simplest of people. Look at Mother Teresa. I brought her up multiple times. I'm really inspired by the simplicity of faith. You know. It's. It's so much. It's not rocket science. And it's so easy. Just to get back. To get up in the morning. And start on your knees. I have a friend that said. Get on your knees every morning. And say.

God. Thank you for this day. Thank you that I'm your child. Lead me today. What an easy thing to do. To be simple. And to have. A simplistic faith. And so. We come back to the foundation. Of one of the most basic. And faith filled assumptions. We need to come back to that. On a regular basis. And these need to be the thing. That your go to's. When you're hitting those hard times.

In your life. Not can I understand. How God created the cosmos. But this. What are the statements. That you live on. Do you have statements. Of faith filled statements. That become the very substance. That help you get through. A difficult time. Let me tell you one of mine. I am a beloved son. Of God. I got to say. I will. In the middle of the night. I get woken up.

I have. I get. You know. You have a nightmare. Or something happens. I don't know if anybody else. Has those types of things. And in the middle of the night. You're just. You know. You get this terrified. This. You know. You're terrified. And the thought that comes to me. And I just start. I'm meditating on it. Because it says that the person. The person that meditates on the word of God.

Will be like a tree. What? Firmly planted. And so I just begin to say to myself. I am a beloved son of God. Or my father loves me. Or my daddy loves me. My father's coming back for me. Jesus loves me. This I know. For the Bible tells me so. Foolishness to the world. But bedrock for me. And I wouldn't be here today. If it wasn't for the simplicity of faith.

Get back to the basics. Get back to being rooted. In the simplicity of life. We're moving on. There's two things. That we're going to look at. Today. And those are going to be our. These two scriptures that we see. But let me first say. That the Christian faith. Is one that is best understood. Simply. We saw in the video earlier. That Satan's primary tactic.

As you'll see in your notes. Was to take Eve. From a simple obedience. To grand questionings. Have you ever met the person. That questions a question. That questions a question. That they question. Because they question the question. That they question. I've worked with people before. And at the end. I say cease questioning. Cease questioning. Come back to me when you have no more questions.

And you're just ready to believe. At a time. You know. You know. Sometimes it's not healthy to keep asking questions. Why did this happen? Why did that happen in my life? What if. What if. Why God. Why. Sometimes it's just to say. You know. I believe that you love me. And you're going to work it out. What is that. It looks like foolishness. To the world. But to us.

It becomes a bedrock. That leads. To eternal life. Let me give you two scriptures. On simplicity. That I try. To live my life around. And that I'm trying. To build this church around. We want to be a very simple. Church. Here's the first one. Thessalonians 4. 11 and 12. And to make it your ambition. To lead a quiet life. Gosh. If pastors. Don't need to hear that.

I don't know. If you need to hear it. But the whole idea. Of like. Become the next rock star. Become the next superstar. I hope your podcast blows up. Wait to the next book deal. Your church is going to. We'll get you on 50 screens. You know. Around. Around the nation. If we can just have pastors. That are willing to be parish pastors. Of the small local church.

Not that we don't step through. Doors that God opens. But have a heart for the local church. Just the people they lead. I would say. Just to speak about my kind. For a minute. Sometimes we care more. About the people. And the hits we're getting. On our podcast. Than we do about the people. That sit in the pews. I want to go to a church. Where we care for one another.

And so this is a word. For my kind. But also. For yours. You should mind. Your own business. Some of you need to underline. Highlight that. Put a check by it. And a star. You know who you are. I didn't tell you who you were. Work with your own hands. Just as we told you. So that your daily life. May win the respect of outsiders. So that you will not be dependent.

On anyone. I love that. A simple quiet life. And you're going to have. Is an evangelist. Evangelism strategy. Wow. Look at Ecclesiastes. What it talks about. This need to know more. More and more. And once again. I went to seminary. I went to Bible college. I love study. I love reading. But here's what it says in Ecclesiastes. But beyond this my son. Be warned.

The writing of many books is endless. An excessive devotion to books is wearying of the body. The conclusion. This is the conclusion of all of Solomon's wanderings and thought. When all has been heard. Is fear God. Keep his commandments. Because. This applies. To every person. In the end of everything. The most wise man. That would ever walk the face of the earth.

This is what he says. Love God. Keep his commandments. That's it. Back. To the basics. What would a basic faith look like? One that maybe carried your Bible around with you. Just carry your Bible with you. Just take it. Put it in your purse. Put it in the dash. You know. In the dashboard. In the glove box. Keep it with you. Read it. Have it on your phone. Just set some.

I have a friend that sets alarms for prayer three times a day. The alarms go off. He just stops. And goes outside and prays. It's simple. It's simple. The enemy wants you to spend all this time thinking about God. And not knowing him. Just think about him. Never spend any time with him. Never put. You know. Anything in your way. That would cause you to slow down.

To read the scripture. But just always spend time thinking about God. And wondering about him. But never actually try to go meet him. That's what it says. In believing in faith. To move forward. Beyond our understandings. To know him. Rooted simply asks this. What can we know about God? Like I said. Interesting. The Bible does not seek to prove God. But rather assumes him.

And there's two primary assumptions. As we circle the tower. To come in for a landing today. Primary assumption number one. Is that a Genesis 1. 1. God was in the beginning. And before the beginning. I've already pre-preached this. So we won't stay on that point too much. And the second. Which is the expansion of Genesis. Which is John. If you didn't know.

As I said earlier. Repackaging Genesis 1. 1. It's fun to put those together. And read Genesis 1. And John 1. And see how they relate. It says. In the beginning. Meaning. That all things were made through God. To purpose to reflect him. That all things that are made. Have been made what? Through God. That when you were to ask somebody. Who is not a faith-based person.

And I always come back to this question. Where did it all come from? Well it came from some gases. Well where did the gases come from? Well they came from a spark. Where did the spark come from? We'll go on. I'm here all day. I'm here all day. I'll keep bringing it to you. Where does it come from? That question. Will never be answered. Because it has to come.

From somewhere. And I will continue to ask. Every time you give me your answer. That it came from some thing. I will say. Where did that thing come from? And when you ask me. Where do you think it came from? I will say that God reached into himself. Out of the very substance that was God. And that was what he used to divinely create. Because when God created.

He reached into himself. And the substance was himself. That is what faith based belief starts with. That the substance that God created with. Was life. It says that he breathed into it. And it became life. That God took some of himself. And so I believe in a divine substance. He didn't create out of nothing. Although he created something. When nothing existed.

But the thing that he used was himself. And so I tell people on a regular basis. That I believe. That God reached into the substance. Of himself. And created out of that substance. Ex nihilo. The Latin word. Something out of nothing. And that's usually where we have the disconnect. In our belief. Because they will not have the ability. To step into faith.

First one is this. God was in the beginning. Genesis 1.1 says. In the beginning God created. It's the very basic. Very basic. As you speak to people. And have great conversations. Because the world is ripe for conversations right now. Ripe. There's a lot of conversations happening. To say that I believe. I have a faith-based understanding. And as we speak.

I want you to know. That I'm coming from a faith-based understanding. That there is a divine creator. An intelligent being. A loving intelligent being. That created. A divine creator. That we say. Have that in your cache. As you begin to speak. Start that as the premise. And then as you begin to speak with people. Say. Where do you begin from? Ask them where they begin from.

I have found that very few people. Have an answer. To that question. This very sentence. In the beginning God created. Sets up our core belief. As it says in the notes. That God is not only before creation. But greater than creation. And beyond creation. I'm just going to go to the tangible result. And you can look at the other notes. There. I think this is key.

And as I was praying. God. This is a lot of stuff. This is a lot of information. What can I give the congregation. To take home with them? Here's what I wrote. From this understanding. That God created. The tangible result. Of this faith-filled understanding. That God created. Before anything existed. Is the confidence. That comes from knowing. That God has got this.

That whatever it is in your life. And the reason I use that term. God's got this. Is because. At our elder retreat. Last January. We were going through some things. We were talking about things. And as we were praying. One of us got a word. We got a sense that God wanted to say something to us. A sentence. And that sentence was this. God has got this. And one of our elders.

Had tears in their eyes. As we say. And we just felt. Sometimes you know. A word is from the Lord. Because you can see the fruit. Of that word. And what I want to say to you. Is that a basic faith-filled understanding. Is something. If you have to write on a card. If you just got to go back to being like a five-year-old. That's cool. Because Jesus digs that.

He says that a childlike faith. Are the people that are going to inherit the kingdom of God. If you just have to put a thing there. That says God has got this. And every time you start going into depression. Or fear. Or anxiety. You have that verse. And you take it out. You put it in front of you. And you just read it for ten minutes. Whatever works.

Going back to the basics. And that is the core of a faith-based understanding. And that's the tangible result. Believing that if you have nothingness right now. That God can create out of your nothingness. Let's go to the second one. And then we're going to finish. All things were made through him. In John 1 and through 4. As he repeats the creation narrative.

It says in verse 2 of John 1. Through him. How many things were made? All things were made. And without him. What was made? Nothing was made that has been made. There's a whole bunch of things I can get into. We have communion to do today. So I'm going to kind of close down. I want to just get to the tangible. I want to give you that tangible tool to take home.

And it's this. That God can create something out of the nothing in your life. That if you have a life right now. That the relationships. You have loneliness. And it's empty. Believing in faith. That just like he created out of nothing. That this scripture says he can create something out of nothing. That all things are created through him. And begin to speak faith into your life.

I'm not a prosperity gospel guy. Name it. Claim it. But I do believe that there are promises in the word of God. And I believe that the word of God. And faith builds margin into your life. And so one of the understandings I have. Is where there is nothing. God can bring a stream into the desert. That where there is dryness. God can bring fruit into your life.

He can bring a harvest into your life. And to begin to believe this. Because the enemy wants you to continue to think. And believe. That God is never going to show up in your life. And no matter how long it's been. That God will create out of your nothingness. Is there a nothingness in your life. An empty place. That you want to say. You know what. Even if it never gets filled with.

And I think it should be filled with. I am going to fill it. With the presence of God. And my belief. In who God is. I think that's powerful. I think some of God's favorite people. Are the people who never get the thing that they want. But in the midst of it. There was this hole in their life. And they said. You know what. I'm just going to keep filling it with belief.

I'm going to keep filling it with God's love. I'm going to keep filling it with worship. And then it feels empty again. I'm just going to keep. I think that God just loves that. I think he weeps with you. I think he understands your pain. I don't think he likes seeing his children. Go through difficult things. But he's willing to. So that they might know him.

On a deeper level. And so that's my challenge to you this week. You'll see I put some challenges in there. Some simplistic challenges. But I want to challenge you this week. Have a simple faith. Get back to the basics. Take your Bible with you. Where you go. Read. Pray. Maybe start on your knees. I don't know what it is. But if we are going to be a rooted church.

We have to be a simple church. That says. I believe in a loving creator God. Who is creating in me. The very aroma of his presence. That you might share it with the world. Amen. Amen.