This month we have been talking about how small things can make a big difference in our lives. Small changes in our thoughts, words, and habits can improve just about every area of our life, including our faith, but today, Pastor David and I want to look at a few small things that can specifically help us develop a BIG faith. If we truly want to look more like Jesus, and experience the same kind of BIG faith and trust and power that Jesus did, then let’s focus on three small things Jesus did:
● A relationship with God
● A relationship with the church (the people of God)
● A relationship with the world
Here at Faith Church, we call these the 3 Relationships and they form for us the foundation of what it means for us to follow Jesus. The reason we focus on these 3 relationships is that these were the foundation of focus of Jesus’ life. Everything Jesus did flowed from one of these 3 relationships. His relationship with God sustained Him and guided His mission and ministry. His relationship with His disciples formed the community that kept His ministry going, and it was Jesus' relationship with the world that brought the blessing of love and life.
Jesus clearly had a very unique and powerful relationship with God. Jesus wasn’t just the Son of God, we believe Jesus was God in the flesh and blood of a human being. The Apostle Paul said,
The Son (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:15-17
Jesus was the fullness of God, and while how that took place is a mystery to us, Jesus said, I and the Father are one. He also said, when you see me you have seen the Father. Now here is what is important for us to consider, even though they were one, we see Jesus always giving time to spend with God the Father.
As a child, when Jesus’ family took a trip to Jerusalem, Jesus stayed behind in the Temple. When His parents finally realized He was missing and returned to the city, they found Jesus in the Temple surrounded by religious leaders. He said to His parents, didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?
As a child, Jesus wanted to be in the house of God. As an adult Jesus continued to want a strong relationship with God so we see Him spending time with God in worship at the synagogue, but also going off alone to pray. Jesus needed those times and He needed a strong relationship with God so that He could be faithful and obedient. Everyone had their own idea about Jesus being the Messiah. Some wanted Jesus to do more miracles and heal more people, others wanted Him to teach more, and others wanted Him to lead a political revolution. With everyone telling Jesus what they wanted Him to be and do, Jesus had to lean into His relationship with God so he could hear God’s will and move in God’s direction.
There are two specific times where Jesus turned to His relationship with God to help him stay obedient to God’s will. The first was at the beginning of His ministry. After healing crowds of people, Jesus could have continued on with a dynamic healing ministry, but was this what God wanted? To make sure he was being faithful, Jesus went off early one morning to be alone with God and pray. When Jesus returned, He said He was going to start travelling to other cities so that He could preach about the coming kingdom of God. God’s word had given direction to Jesus’ life.
Near the end of Jesus' earthly ministry, when the cross was clearly becoming a reality, Jesus again sought out a time of prayer. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked God if there could be any other way to accomplish His plan of salvation. When Jesus got up from that time of prayer, He moved forward on a path that led him to the cross. Once again, it was the relationship Jesus had with God that gave direction to his life. It helped Jesus not only endure the suffering of the cross but defeat sin and death and bring salvation to the world.
It was Jesus' strong relationship with God that allowed Him to have a BIG faith. For us, a BIG faith will come when we are willing to focus on this primary relationship. If we can stay connected to God through Jesus, the power of Christ will flow into our lives and help us be the people of faith we want to be.
Jesus also centered His life on establishing relationships with people who became the foundation of the church. The first thing Jesus did after He was baptized and started His public ministry was to call people to follow Him. Jesus wasn’t here to live life on His own, He wasn’t here to just show us how important it is for us to have a relationship with God, He worked to create a community of people who would be able carry on the work of God in the world.
Jesus had an inner core of 3 people, Peter, James and John, who became leaders in the early church. He had the 12 disciples who walked with Him and gave witness to the work God was doing in and through Jesus. There was also a larger group of 70 followers who began to create communities of faith that not only supported one another but supported Jesus as well. The life of Jesus shows us that God never wanted us to live in isolation but in community.
We will never experience a BIG faith on our own. We will never see the fullness of God’s presence and power working in our lives if we try to live out our faith by ourselves. Even after Jesus left this world, the first thing the Holy Spirit did was to create a strong and healthy church.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47.
The followers of Jesus devoted themselves to a relationship with God through ongoing worship and prayer, but they also committed themselves to a strong relationship with one another through generously sharing all they had and supporting one another in all things. As they lived out this relationship, God used them to draw others in. A focus on this one relationship started to change the lives of people all around them. It started to change the world.
The third relationship we see Jesus was His relationship with the world. Jesus did not just care for the people of God who followed Him, He reached out to a wide variety of people. Jesus welcomed a sinful Samaritan woman and gave her life. He extended grace to a syro-phoenician woman and healed her daughter. A Roman guard stood at the cross and as he watched the suffering and death of Jesus and said with faith, surely this is the son of God. Jesus didn’t just come for a few, He came for the world. Jesus' death and resurrection was for all the world. God our Savior wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Peter 2:4
Jesus' relationship with the world moved Him to reach out beyond all kinds of boundaries and barriers to bless others. For us, a BIG faith means we must also develop a relationship with the world where we are willing to reach out and be a blessing. How can we bless others by sharing God’s love with them? How can sharing the good news of Jesus and the salvation He alone can bring be a blessing? How can we bless the world by standing strong in the values of God’s kingdom? We are to bless and love the world with the love God has given us.
Jesus focused on just 3 relationships throughout His life, but it was these relationships that allowed Him to be faithful and obedient to God in all things. If we want a BIG faith then these need to be the 3 relationships we focus on. These are the relationships that need to form the foundation of our own lives. To help us learn how to deepen and develop these relationships in intentional ways, I want to invite Pastor David to come and talk a little bit about the rhythms of life that can lead us to a BIG faith.
Pastor David:
Several years ago, I was trying to find the best rate for a car loan… and I read online that credit unions sometimes have the best rates. So I went up to Penn State Federal Credit Union and they said, you can’t get a loan there unless you have an account and you can’t have an account here unless you’re a member of the Penn State Alumni Association. And since I didn’t go to Penn State, I figured that was the end for me, but the teller had good news. She said, “you don’t have to be Penn State Alum to be part of the Alumni Association. You just need to fill out this form and pay a one-time $10 fee! I become a member with exclusive benefits and my life literally didn’t even change a little bit. I just had to check off a box to make me worthy of being accepted.
Sometimes that’s how we feel about our faith… that we just need to jump through the right hoops to be accepted by God. I remember as a kid I had this mentality reinforced in me at VBS one year… these two elementary school kids in my class got into a fist fight and a well-intentioned teacher pulled them apart and said, “THIS IS NO WAY TO ACT IN GOD’S HOUSE!”
I heard her say that and I was so confused… I’m sure this isn’t what she meant to say, but in my kid brain what I heard was, it doesn’t matter how you live outside of these walls, but in church you gotta act like Jesus… once you leave, have at it… get in a fist fight… rob a bank… do whatever feels good!
Sometimes we’re tempted to treat our Christian faith like a Sam’s Club Membership… we’re living like somehow if we check the right boxes at the right times, God will have to love and forgive us… if we read our bibles and don’t cuss, God will overlook the way we treat our family or the way we talk to the cashier at the grocery store or the guy in traffic who’s driving slow in the passing lane. Sometimes a person’s check list is just one or two things and sometimes a person’s check list is 250 good things they need do, but either way, if we treat the Christian faith like a check list, we’re missing out.
If we want to grow to become like Jesus by deepening and developing our relationship with God, the Church, and the World, like we see in Jesus’ life… it STARTS by knowing and believing that we are already loved and accepted just the way we are. We’ve never been more loved than we are right now. And there’s nothing we can do to increase God’s love for us. Nothing. You are loved by God. Period. There’s no earning forgiveness in God’s kingdom… we just need to accept what’s already there for us.
This is important because as long as we think we’re earning forgiveness and love, we’re always gonna feel like we’re not doing enough… and actually we’d be right, because the truth is we can’t do enough to earn forgiveness… we can’t do enough good to be more loved… for it’s by God’s grace that we’ve been forgiven… he gives it freely to each one of us.
So we have to make that shift in our thinking. We’re not becoming like Jesus to be loved… We deepen and develop those three relationships because we are loved… and we want to become like Jesus… we want to be obedient him…. And because the life he has for us is better than the life we’d choose on our own.
As Pastor Andy said, each Relationship is comprised of 5 Rhythms that we see in Jesus’s life… they’re not things to check off a to-do list, they’re ways of living that affect every moment of our lives. Not like our Penn State Alumni Association membership... instead, it affects everything and these rhythms are lived out in our jobs, at school, on the athletic field, at home, in our neighborhoods… in our parenting and in our relationships… it’s not a to-do list, it’s the way we live our lives.
Now, we don’t have time on a Sunday morning to go over all 15 Rhythms, but I want to share a few Rhythms with you to help you understand the concept and to help you know how you can grow in them.
One of the easiest ways to capture the essence of the rhythms is by looking at our relationship with God – specifically, the rhythm Scripture: My life is directed by the Bible. Notice this doesn’t say “Read your Bible once a day” or “read the Bible cover to cover once a year.” It says “my life is directed by the Bible.” That’s a big difference.
I remember growing up, pastors and youth leaders would tell me I should read the Bible. And here at Faith Church, we encourage you to read the Bible. And sometimes that can kinda feel like a to-do list item, can’t it? Like, if we do it, God will be happy with me.
But reading the Bible isn’t the point… our lives being directed by the Bible is the point. Jesus memorized the Scriptures and he lived his life accordingly. The early Christians studied the apostles teaching and then they did what it said. That’s why they sacrificed their own wealth to care for the needs of others. Because they read God’s Word and did what it said. James 1:22 says Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
Coming to worship, listening to a Christian podcast, reading our Bible, doing devotions, reading a Christian book, learning in a small group… those things don’t do anything on their own, but we’re growing in the rhythm of Scripture when we put into action what we read. Don’t let it go in on ear and out the other… do what it says. Even when it’s hard. Even when it requires sacrifice. My life is directed by the Bible. Can you see how this is not a check list, but a way of living?
One of the rhythms in our relationship with the church is Community: My interactions with the church are rooted in love. Jesus loved the disciples and he cared for them. All throughout Scripture we’re invited to do the same with what are sometimes referred to as “one another” statements.
All these commandments are about how believers should interact with each other. Offer hospitality to one another… bear with one another… forgive one another… value one another above yourself… serve one another humbly in love… love one another… confess your sins to one another… pray for each other… be devoted to one another… honor one another above yourselves…
Wow. That’s quite a calling. That calling isn’t to be pleasant and smile when we pass each at church and on the street… that’s an invitation to Christian community that goes beyond the surface and creates space for vulnerability. It requires us to be willing to say, you know what… everything is not alright. I’m really struggling here… and it invites us to respond to that by saying… you’re not alone… we’re here with you. We are for you.
My friends, we can’t experience this kind of Christian community in an hour long worship gathering on the weekends. It takes being in relationship with one another… and whether that relationship is formed naturally through church life or whether those relationships are formed in the context of a small group or Sunday school class… if we want to become like Jesus, we need Christian community.
Kind of like with Scripture, going to a small group or Sunday school class isn’t the point, being able to hear from God and being able grow deep in friendship with other believers is the point. The rhythm of Community is about our interactions with the church being rooted in love. Can you see how this is not a check list, but a way of living life?
One of the rhythms in our relationship with the world is Engagement – I look for opportunities to introduce people to Jesus.
In Colossians 4:2-5 Paul says 2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.
Every single day we rub shoulders with people who don’t yet know Jesus… our neighbors, our coworkers, our classmates, the teller at the bank, and the cashier at the grocery store… every interaction with them is an opportunity to show them Christ’s love by the way we treat them… and they’re also opportunities to introduce people to Jesus, to tell people of what Jesus has done in our lives, to invite people to worship with us or to connect with God in our small group or through inviting their kids to an event like Vacation Bible School.
I love the way Paul says it here – make the most of every opportunity.
In fact, Paul PRAYS for doors to be opened to share Christ with other people. And we’re invited to the same thing. We’re invited to love folks we encounter, to ask God for a way for us to invite them on the journey of faith, and then making the most of that opportunity.
Part of our relationship with the world is engagement – looking for opportunities to introduce people to Jesus.
Those were just three of the 15 rhythms of the life of Jesus that we’re invited to live out. Ways of living that aren’t items to check off a to-do list, but are part of a process of who we’re becoming… and when we live them out, they impact every aspect of our lives.
The reality is, some of the 15 rhythms we naturally and easily live out. But others require a bit more intentional focus. I want to invite you to consider what rhythm you might want to grow in over the next year. As we’ve been diving into our word for the year… does your word connect with one of the rhythms? Maybe there’s one that you know is an area where God wants to grow you. Choose a rhythm to focus on this year as part of your one word. And see how God transforms you.
You can take a Rhythm Assessment that will help you see which rhythms are strongest in your life and which ones could use a little more work.
Once you figure out what Rhythm you’d like to grow in you can pick up a personal study workbook of the 15 Rhythms in the lobby or online and learn more about what the rhythm means and what you can do to develop it more in your life.
You can meet with a spiritual coach to talk about the rhythm you want to grow in. They’re not therapists, they’re people who are trained to listen to you and encourage you and help you set goals for yourself.
Or maybe your next step is to sign up for a serve team or a small group to put yourself in a place where you can dive into scripture and be connected to others in Christian community.
Finally, we want to announce a brand new opportunity to grow in Faith. Over the next few months, we’re launching some brand new Rhythm Workshops that will touch on a lot of the Rhythms of the 3 Relationships.
We have a membership worship tonight… we have a 3R overview workshop that will touch on all 15 rhythms a little bit and go more in depth on the assessment and the workbook. We have a workshop on how to read the Bible and pray on your own to help you develop your personal relationship with God. We have a workshop designed to help you be ready to share Christ with someone you encounter. And we have a workshop to discover how God designed you with specific passions, spiritual gifts, and talents… and how you can use those to serve inside or outside the church.
I’m really excited about these workshops… and on your way out of worship you can pick up a post card that has all the information on it and a link to sign up. You can also access all this information – the workshops, the spiritual coaching, the assessment, and the workbook – by going to bellefontefaith.com/3R.
But I want to encourage you… What small thing do you want to grow in this year? How does your word… and your thought… and your habit help you grow in a Rhythm this year?
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day who said his pastor always made him feel like he had to be perfect and that he was never doing enough to make God happy. That feeling is comes from a check-list starting point. “If I do enough, then God will be happy.”
If you hear nothing else today, I hope you know that that belief couldn’t be farther from the truth. We don’t become more like Jesus TO be good enough… Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, our sins are forgiven and we are enough. There’s nothing more we can do. We become more like Jesus BECAUSE he loves us… more than we could ever imagine… and if we trust him for salvation and if we trust that he loves us, we can trust that the life he has for us is better than the life we would ever choose for ourselves.
Next Steps
Small Things - Big Faith
The 3 Relationships
Focusing on 3 relationships can help us develop a BIG faith:
1. A relationship with God
2. A relationship with the church
3. A relationship with the world
Consider how these relationships were the foundation of Jesus life and ministry:
• God: John 1:1-18, Mark 1:35-39, Matthew 14:22-24, Matthew 26:36-46
• Church: Luke 2:41-52, Mark 1:16-20, Acts 2:42-47, Acts 4:32-35
• World: John 3:16-17, John 4:1-26, 1 Peter 2:4
Which relationship needs more development in your life?
Take the 3 Relationships Self-Assessment to help you see where you are strong and where improvement might be needed. Resources can be found at: bellefontefaith.com/3r
Each relationship can be broken down into 5 rhythms that can help us go deeper. Pick one rhythm to focus on this week.
Relationship ___________Rhythm __________________
Commit now to being part of one of these 4 classes:
● Grow Class (3 Relationships Overview) - Feb. 20 & 27
● Dwell Class (Read the Bible and Pray) - March 13
● Share Class (How to share our faith) - April 3 &10
● Design Class (Spiritual Gifts) - May 1, 15, & 22
