Latest / HAVE FAITH LET IT BEGIN® / Jesus Never said that: Ep 1 of 10

Transcript

Jesus Never said that: Ep 1 of 10 · HAVE FAITH LET IT BEGIN®

• 0:00
  Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Half-Faith, Let It Begin.
• 0:03
  My name is Angel Santana.
• 0:05
  We begin a new series entitled, Jesus Doesn't Say That.
• 0:10
  And we're going to be exploring this for the next 10 episodes.
• 0:14
  Half-Faith, Let It Begin, brand new series, starts right now.
• 0:19
  Half-Faith, Let It Begin, when it starts right now.
• 0:25
  Welcome to Have Faith, Let It Begin.
• 0:29
  Here's your host, Angel Santana. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Have Faith, Let It Begin.
• 0:34
  Let's dive right into this season's new series. We've been on a series kick,
• 0:38
  and it's been working, and we want to welcome each and every one of you to our platform.
• 0:43
  Jesus doesn't say, try really hard first, and if that doesn't work, I'll jump in.
• 0:50
  No, he doesn't say that. He says, apart from me, you can do nothing.
• 0:56
  That's dependence. Then listen to Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 through 10.
• 1:02
  The word of the Lord. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith.
• 1:07
  And this is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast.
• 1:16
  For we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
• 1:21
  which God prepared in advance for us to do.
• 1:25
  The word of the Lord. Praise be to God.
• 1:27
  I love the order there. God really knows what he's talking about.
• 1:32
  And grace comes first, then the work.
• 1:36
  We don't work hard enough, so God will finally give us grace.
• 1:40
  We receive grace, and then that grace changes how we live. That's a huge difference.
• 1:46
  And then there's Psalms 121, verses 1 through 2.
• 1:51
  The word of the Lord. I lift up my eyes to the mountains. Where does my help come from?
• 1:57
  My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
• 2:02
  Where does my help come from? Not just from me.
• 2:05
  Not from my ability to figure everything out. Not from my bank account.
• 2:11
  Not from my intelligence. Not from having the perfect plan.
• 2:16
  My help comes from the Lord. And maybe one of the clearest examples comes from Paul.
• 2:21
  Paul. Paul begged God to remove what he called his thorn in the flesh.
• 2:27
  Three times he pleaded with God.
• 2:30
  But God told him in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9, My grace is sufficient for you,
• 2:38
  for my power is made perfect in weakness.
• 2:41
  That's almost the opposite of God helps those who help themselves.
• 2:45
  Sometimes God's power becomes clearest when we finally admit, I can do this by myself.
• 2:53
  Here's a personal reflection. I think this one hits me because I like solving things.
• 2:59
  When something goes wrong, my mind immediately starts moving.
• 3:03
  Hmm, it says, I just, just thinking about it now, I can say,
• 3:08
  what can I do, you know? Who do I call?
• 3:11
  What's the next step? How do I fix this? Yeah, those are my words.
• 3:15
  And there's nothing wrong with taking action, by the way. But sometimes I can
• 3:19
  move so quickly into a problem-solving mode.
• 3:22
  I forget to stop and ask. I forget to ask, God, what are you doing here? Or even, God, I need you.
• 3:30
  There's something humbling about admitting that because I think that we like feeling capable.
• 3:37
  We like feeling like we've got everything under control. But following Jesus
• 3:41
  Christ keeps bringing us back to dependence, not helplessness.
• 3:47
  Dependence, there's a word. That's, there's a difference there.
• 3:51
  I'll tell you one thing. I can work hard and depend on God.
• 3:55
  I can make plans and depend on God. I mean, I can take responsibility and depend on God.
• 4:01
  I can do everything I'm supposed to while still recognizing that my strength,
• 4:06
  my wisdom, my opportunities, my breath, and ability to take another step ultimately come from Him.
• 4:13
  Maybe faith is improving to God how much we handle or how much we can handle.
• 4:18
  Maybe sometimes faith sounds like Lord, I can't carry this without you.
• 4:25
  So what is that? What does this look like for tomorrow morning?
• 4:30
  It doesn't mean you stop working. It doesn't mean you stop planning.
• 4:34
  It doesn't mean you ignore responsibilities and say, God will take care of it.
• 4:38
  Instead, we change the order before I react and pray.
• 4:44
  Before I assumed I know what to do.
• 4:47
  I ask God for wisdom before I carry something alone.
• 4:51
  I remember I'm a part of the body of Christ before I tell myself, I got this.
• 4:57
  Or maybe I say, God, we've got this, but I need you to lead.
• 5:02
  You know, in Proverbs 3, verses five through six, it tells us,
• 5:05
  trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understandings.
• 5:11
  In all your ways, submit to him and he will make your path straight.
• 5:16
  Notice it doesn't say, don't think, don't plan, don't work.
• 5:22
  No. It says don't lean entirely on yourself.
• 5:28
  Interesting, isn't it? Here's a faith challenge for you.
• 5:31
  The challenge for the week would be pay attention to the moment when you normally say, I've got this.
• 5:37
  When you catch yourself doing it, stop.
• 5:40
  Even if it's only for 30 seconds and just pray.
• 5:44
  Pray, God, I need you in this. That's it. You don't need a fancy prayer.
• 5:50
  You don't need church language.
• 5:52
  God, I need you in this. Then take whatever responsibility or responsible next
• 5:58
  step is in front of you and pray and move, trust and work,
• 6:04
  depend on God and participate in what he's calling you to do.
• 6:09
  Let's pray about that. Let's take the 30 seconds now.
• 6:13
  Heavenly Father, forgive us for the times we've act like everything depends
• 6:16
  on us. Forgive us when we trust our plans more than your presence.
• 6:21
  When we're tempted to carry everything alone, remind us where our help comes from.
• 6:27
  Our help comes from you. Teach us to work faithfully without worshiping our own strength.
• 6:32
  Teach us to make plans while remaining open to your direction.
• 6:36
  Teach us that admitting weakness isn't failure. Sometimes it's the very place
• 6:41
  where your strength becomes visible.
• 6:44
  For the person listening today who feels like they have told or they have hold everything together,
• 6:50
  Everything, oh my God, just thinking about that reminds me of me,
• 6:54
  reminds me, remind them, you
• 6:56
  know, remind everyone that we're never meant to carry life without you.
• 7:02
  Give us wisdom for the things we can do.
• 7:04
  Give us courage to do them and give us the faith to trust you.
• 7:10
  With what we cannot control. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Yeah,
• 7:15
  that's a good one today. So what's today's takeaway?
• 7:18
  Well, does God help those who help themselves? That's not what Scripture says.
• 7:24
  Scripture gives us something much better.
• 7:26
  God gives us grace to people who could never save themselves and then empowers
• 7:31
  them to faithfully walk with Him.
• 7:34
  We don't work for grace. We work from grace.
• 7:37
  And when we reach to the end of ourselves, that doesn't mean we've reached the end of God.
• 7:43
  So remember, my help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. Amen.
• 7:51
  You know, this has been episode one of Jesus Never Said That,
• 7:54
  a special series from Have Faith Let It Begin.
• 7:56
  And throughout this series, we're going to keep asking one simple question. And it sounds good.
• 8:03
  It might even sound Christian, but it's actually biblical.
• 8:07
  Don't just repeat it. Don't just repost it. Don't just assume somebody else checked it.
• 8:13
  Open the Bible, read the passage, look at the next context, and let's discover
• 8:20
  together what God's word actually says.
• 8:22
  I'm Angel Santana, and never forget, to have faith, let it begin.
• 8:28
  On tomorrow's episode, we're tackling something you've probably heard after
• 8:32
  tragedy disappointment, and heartbreak.
• 8:35
  Everything happens for a reason. You know that phrase.
• 8:39
  But what happens when somebody is hurting and there doesn't seem to be a reason?
• 8:43
  Does the Bible actually promise that everything happens for a reason?
• 8:47
  And what should Christians say when life simply doesn't make sense?
• 8:51
  That's next on Jesus Never Said That.
• 8:55
  Because it sounds good. It might even sound Christian, but it is actually biblical.
• 9:01
  Have a good one and never forget, Have faith, let it begin.