Back To The Basics

"BACK TO THE BASICS!"

Rom 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

ć A disturbing trend seen too often in many churches is the apparent apathy of many Christians

o They may attend services, but it appears that they are only "going through the motions"

o Their singing, their praying, their Bible Study, their zeal, seems listless

To rephrase Thoreau: "The mass of [Christians] lead lives of quiet desperation."

I suspect the problem is one akin to an athlete or a sport team which is "in a slump" Such a person or team "goes through the motions", but they are not performing up to their true potential The solution in sports: Work on "the fundamentals"

ć The same is true with Christians; when we find ourselves "in a slump"...

o We need to stress the fundamentals

o Rev 2:4-5 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.

Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

o We need to get "Back To The Basics!"

I. ENERGIZE YOUR "FAITH"

A. DEFINING "FAITH"...

1. A Scriptural definition of faith is found in

2. He 11:1"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

3. VINE’S describes faith as "a firm

conviction"

4. Faith is a ¡K

_F_antastic

_A_dventure

_I_n

_T_rusting

_H_im

-- Corrie ten Boom

B. IMPORTANCE OF "FAITH"...

There was a farmer who had three sons: Jim, John, and Sam. No one in the family ever attended church or had time for God. The pastor and the others in the church tried for years to interest the family in the things of God to no avail. Then one day Sam was bitten by a rattlesnake. The doctor was called and he did all he could to help Sam, but the outlook for Sam’s recovery was very dim indeed. So the pastor was called and appraised of the situation. The pastor arrived, and began to pray as follows: "O wise and righteous Father, we thank Thee that in Thine wisdom thou didst send this rattlesnake to bite Sam. He has never been inside the church and it is doubtful that he has, in all this time, ever prayed or even acknowledged Thine existence. Now we trust that this experience will be a valuable lesson to him and will lead to his genuine repentance. "And now, O Father, wilt thou send another rattlesnake to bite Jim, and another to bite John, and another really big one to bite the old man. For years we have done everything we know to get them to turn to Thee, but all In vain. It seems, therefore, that what all our combined efforts could not do, this rattlesnake has done. We thus conclude that the only thing that will do this family any real good is rattlesnakes; so, Lord, send us bigger and better rattlesnakes. Amen."

1. Faith in God is essential to pleasing Him-

Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

2. Faith in Jesus is essential to finding forgiveness and eternal life

John 8:24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am [the one I claim to be], you will indeed die in your sins."

John 20:30-31 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

C. ENERGIZING YOUR "FAITH"...

1. The Word of God is designed to produce faith

Rom 10:17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

John 20:30-31 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

2. Through diligent reading of the Bible, we can "energize" our faith!

II. FORTIFY YOUR "HOPE"

She was a physician’s wife. He was a man of a strong, sunny nature who carried good cheer into his patient’s homes to sustain them in weakness and discouragement, and still carried back enough to fill his own home. His frail wife needed all the sunshine and vigor of his personality to sustain her; and it did not fail. She seemed to live so much by the strength of his spirit that, when he passed away suddenly after a month of especially hard work, her friends said, "It will kill her!" But the ties between husband and wife were too strong to be broken by the incident of death. The memories of the past were as real as his presence had been. The religious life and the faith in God that they two had shared together did not fail her. By the doorway of the living room, she fastened the card that he had sometimes left in short absences on his office door: "Gone Out--Back Soon." Those who came with consolation, went away themselves consoled. They felt, behind this frail form and lips that smiled while they quivered, a mysterious power, a spiritual experience that had united two souls in a marriage that death itself could not annul. More than one went out from her presence to find, in the years that followed, a strong, although secret, consolation in the deathless companionship through memory of his lost ones, and in the cheery suggestion of that brief message. The Gospel of Jesus is in those four words: "Gone Out--Back Soon."