Sermon Notes
September 27th, 2020
I C U: 35 Days to Revive My Faith
When God is Hard to See
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Welcome To Discovery Community Church
Over the next 35 days, as we continue our walk through Genesis, a book about “beginning,” I’m inviting you on a journey to revive your faith by learning from the lives of some who’ve been there. Today, we start the journey back.
We know how to rest our body
We know how to restart a motor
We know how to revive a heart
But how do you revive...a faith?
Luke 12:23 New International Version (NIV)
For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.
There is more to life than “surviving.” I was made for more and you were made for more. We need to breathe life into faith.
Today, as we start the journey back, we are going to go back to a hero who deserves a second look. Let me re-introduce you to Hagar.
Genesis 16:6 New Living Translation (NLT)
Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.
I wish it wasn’t true: but, I run. You Run.
1. We all RUN
If there is something we all have in common...
Isaiah 53:6 New International Version (NIV)
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Romans 3:23 New International Version (NIV)
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
God wove into every one of us the gift of choice, but, we use that choice to run. Sometimes we run for self-determination. Sometimes we run for self-preservation.
Sometimes we have run for so long and for so far that we don’t even remember why we run.
Two things true about running:
As far as I run, you run, as long as I run: I can’t run away from myself.
And I can’t outrun God.
Genesis 16:7 New International Version (NIV)
The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.
2. God is The running God
Luke 19:10 New International Version (NIV)
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
1 Peter 2:24 The Message (MSG)
He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing. You were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going. Now you’re named and kept for good by the Shepherd of your souls.
Genesis 16:8 New International Version (NIV)
And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
Do you understand how you got here? Are you content with where you are going?
God is, has been, and will continue to hunt for you, and pursue you: but not so He can just sit with you in the mess.
3. God is a reviving God
John 3:16-17 New International Version (NIV)
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
That’s what we are talking about today… reviving… REBIRTH.
John 3:4 New International Version (NIV)
“How can someone be born when they are old?”
The first step: recognizing you are LOST, and you need help.
Then: John 3:16 New International Version (NIV)
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
God is not at all interested in you, me, and us feeling bad about ourselves; He wants you to live!
So the second step: BELIEVE.
Genesis 16:11-15 New International Version (NIV)
The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered. So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.
Believe.
Reviving Hagar’s faith requires her BELIEVING that she is defined, that she has life, purpose NOT by her circumstances.
BUT, that she is FREE because God sees her!
4. God Invites you to believe...AGAIN
God is inviting Hagar to believe every day. To name the child that she will hold, coddle, care for every day, and to sing to late at night: “God hears.”
And that’s enough… because believing is freeing!
Romans 10:9-10 New International Version (NIV)
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
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AFTER THE LIVESTREAM
Pray -
Jesus, I know that I have been separate from you my entire life. I have tried to pretend otherwise, but I realize today that my decisions, choices...my sin has separated me from God. I believe you are the Son of God and my only way forward. Please save me as I surrender the rest of my life into your hands. Thank you that you hear me!
Let us know!
We want to be in this journey with you and help in way we can. Fill out a Connection Card - or even text it to the prayer line!
Start Reading!
We think the Gospel of John is a great place to start. Consider using the app: YouVersion.
Celebrate!
Follow along with some of the worship provided on discochurch.com/live
And share what God is doing in you!
