Andy Stanley - Unmistakable, Unshakable
Have you've been attending one of our churches or this church for years or months or weeks, or maybe it's just your first time. I wanna tell you for the next few minutes what I want for you. And you may not care what I want for you 'cause you don't really know who I am. And I get that. But I just had this Sunday to just tell you what I really, really want for you. And here's what I want for you. Regardless if you're a person of faith or not, or you've been a Christian for a long time, I want you to have an unmistakable in the sense that nobody is mistaken, an unmistakable, unshakeable faith in God that's not just internal, but that ultimately informs every single one of your decisions in every season of your life.
And when I say an unmistakable, unshakeable faith in God, I'm talking about God as Jesus revealed God. Remember at the end of His life, He said to His disciples, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father". So if you stop short of Jesus, you stop short of knowing what God's like. If you move past Jesus, you've moved past what God is like. And I just want all of you and all of us and your kids and your grandkids, if you have kids, and your future spouse, if you're looking for a spouse to just have this unmistakable, unshakeable faith in God as Jesus has revealed God to us. And I wanted to inform all of your decisions, or the short version of that is I want you to have a really big and a really active faith, a big mature.
And we're gonna talk a little bit in a minute, informed faith in God that actually moves you to follow Jesus. Now here's something really interesting, and I've shared this before, so this may be repeat, but that's okay. This is so amazing to me. Did you know there are only two occasions in the life of Jesus, the recorded life of Jesus, and we have four accounts of life of Jesus, Matthew, Martin, Luke, and John. There are only two occasions in all four of those accounts of Jesus where Jesus was amazed by something. Wouldn't it be cool if you were one of the few people who amazed Jesus, like, that's amazing. Like Jesus thinks I'm amazing. I mean, wouldn't that be amazing? There's only two occasions in the gospels where Jesus was amazed by anything and both times were related to people's faith.
The first time He just finished His famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount comes down off the mountain. A man with leprosy walks up to Jesus, asked for healing. Jesus heals the leper, which then the crowd goes wild, you know? And there was a Roman centurion in the crowd and saw this and had heard Jesus teach. And he walks up to Jesus and he says, Jesus, hey, I have a servant at home, and he's dying. Would you heal my servant? You know, people are kind of, there's a hush over the crowd. Is he gonna help a Roman centurion? Is he gonna help what is generally, you know, considered an enemy of the citizens of Galilee 'cause Jesus is way up north of the Sea of Galilee at the time.
And Jesus says, I will heal your servant. I'll follow you home and heal your servant. And you maybe remember this story, the centurion says to Jesus, he says, no, you don't need to come home with me. I know how this works, and I've been watching you, and I know how you work. He says, and the reason I know how this works is because of what I do as a Roman centurion. For I, myself or I too like you. One translation says, which is a little more accurate. Like you, I too am a man under authority with soldiers under me.
And he says to Jesus, he says, so when I tell my soldiers to go that way, they go that way. When I say go that way, they go that way. If I send them into battle, they go into battle. If I send them to get me lunch, they go get me lunch. And the reason they do what I tell them to do is not me. The reason they do what I tell them to do is because of who I represent. I represent the Roman Empire. If I was not a Roman centurion, they wouldn't give me any attention. But because of who I represent, they do what I order them to do it. And then he looks at Jesus and he essentially says, look, I've been watching you clearly. You're like me. You represent something or someone bigger than you do. So you don't need to come to my house. You just do what I do. If you just give the command, I believe my servant will be healed.
This is so cool. And when Jesus heard this, here it is. He was amazed. He was astonished. He was impressed. But what was he impressed by? Well, the text tells us. "When Jesus heard this, He was amazed. And He said to those following Him, 'Truly I tell you, I've not found anyone in Israel.' I've not even found a son or daughter of Abraham. I've not found anybody in Israel, With such great faith". Big informed, active faith. And the servant was healed. Now here's the fun fact. And this kind of levels the playing field for all of us. Jesus was never amazed at anyone's knowledge. You are so smart. He never said, right, okay, because He's Jesus, He's the Son of God. He was never amazed at how smart people were or how insightful people were. He was only amazed by how much faith they had or in the second incident, how little faith they had.
So the second time Jesus is amazed, He's visiting in the hometown of Nazareth. Maybe you've experienced this. So He goes home. And when he gets there, you know, there He's sort of becoming a, you know, a famous person. He is not super famous yet, this is still at the beginning of His ministry. So he comes home to Nazareth and the people were so impressed, you know, oh Jesus, we've heard all these amazing stories, and then there's a little bit of jealousy that sets in. Right? You know, it's like, wait a minute, wait a minute, you know, but don't, before we get too excited, isn't this, this is so real, so gritty, so earthy. "Isn't this the carpenter"?
Let's not lose our minds over this guy. We know who he is. "Isn't this Mary's son". Mary, come over here. Isn't this your son? I mean, we knew him since he was a little boy running around. He was a teenager. So, and besides that, his brother James is here, and Joseph and Judas and Simon. He's just one of us. These are Jesus brothers. And get this, some of you didn't know this and aren't his sisters here with us? Jesus had sisters. So Jesus had a large family there in Nazareth. And remember, He didn't leave, you know, when He was 16, and He came back 30 famous. He lived there for 30 years. So they'd seen Him in every single season of life, in every stage of life. Then He disappears and comes back, and he is gaining all this notoriety. And they're like, He's not all that special. Let's not lose our minds over this guy. He's just one of us.
But no, He thinks He's better than the rest of us. And Jesus' response, "He was amazed at their lack of faith". So there you have it. The two times, the two times the two things that amazed Jesus. He was amazed by great faith. There was great faith. And He was amazed by a lack of faith. He was amazed by big faith, big bold act of faith. And He was amazed at small faith. Now, this is not complicated. I would guess that all of you and all of us know at least one person or maybe several people who have what we would consider big faith. Big faith, we would say they have big faith because they are able, and they're willing, and they have decided in their lives to evaluate all of life and to react to all of life through the focus and the lens of God's faithfulness. That they believe in a big God who has the whole world in His hands. And things don't always go their way.
In fact, things rarely go their way. But somehow in spite of that, they maintain their faith in God, their confidence in God actually informs all of their actions. But most importantly and most difficult, you've seen these people, their faith actually impacts their reactions. And that's what Jesus wanted for His first century followers. And that's what He wants for his 21st century followers as well. Big faith, big active faith. Because big faith is active faith. It makes a difference in the world. It makes a difference in your relationships. It makes a difference when you're dating. It makes a difference when you're married. It makes a difference where you work. It makes a difference when you're out of work.
And so just like He wanted big active faith, bold faith for His first century followers, He wants that for all of us as well. And He wants that for all of you as well. Because big, active faith does things, and it makes lives better and it makes the world a better place. So all that sort of set up. So almost 30 years ago, 29 years ago when we started this church that became a whole bunch of churches. We wanted to create an organization or we wanted to create a church that was hyper-focused on helping people become big faith people. We didn't wanna just have a church. Atlanta had plenty of churches. There are plenty of churches in the world. We wanted to be super specific about what we were trying to accomplish as a group of people. And we wanted to create the whole organization, the programming, the communication style, everything around helping people get real world practical faith.
And we recognize even in those early years that there are five things that lead to big faith. That if you were to say to me, "Andy, Andy, my faith is deteriorating, what can I do? Or I want to have more faith, or I'm just brand new to faith, you know, what should I do"? Hey, I've been answering this really the same way for 35 years, but 30 years when we started the church, we just kind of focused in. There are five things that actually grow a person's or grow and mature a person's faith. We call them, if you've been around here, we call 'em the Five Faith Catalysts. These are the basically the five essential ingredients, if you can think of it as a recipe, the five essential ingredients for somebody to develop a growing, maturing, enduring faith in God.
So every couple of years we come back and talk about these five things. Sometimes we do a whole series around these five things. But today I just want to show you the list or remind you of the list. I really wish all of you, all of us would commit these five things to memory. But that's a big ask. But I just wanna show you the list. And then at the end of the message, I want to ask you to consider something. So if you want your faith to grow, here you go. Sandra's here today. I know she would like that. If you want your faith to grow, here you go. These are the Five Faith Catalysts. Okay, real quick, number one, practical teaching.
One of the things that grows your faith is when you sit in a church like one of our churches or a church maybe where you live, or the Bible study where somebody opens the scripture and talks not just about what it says, but tells you what to do with what it says, a practical approach to faith. That grows your faith. We'll come back to that in a minute. Second one is personal ministry. Anytime you step out of your comfort zone to do something you think God wants you to do, your faith grows because it's like, God, if you don't come through, I'm through. Because I'm not I'm... You know, the first time you ever went on a mission trip and you were scared to death and you're like, I'm not a missionary, I don't even know what to wear. You know, and then you, you kind of decided I got my passport up to date and you went, or you went wherever we asked you to do or you served or you sat in a carpet circle with children, or you did the ultimate, you decided, I'm going to lead a small group of middle school boys.
What am I doing? I hated middle school. You know, and I don't even know what they're talking about and what happens when you step into an environment of personal ministry or you just feel like you need to talk to one of your neighbors about Jesus or invite a friend to church. It's like, God, please, please, please help 'em to just not be there when I not call. You know, it's like you just, it just does something for your faith. The third one, private disciplines, or you could call these the private spiritual disciplines. We want to keep it simple. The private disciplines.
One of the things that grows our faith is when we begin reading the scripture on our own for the first time, or we get a devotional book, we begin to pray for the first time. Carve out time in the morning or in the afternoon when you begin to be a percentage giver or a tithe, you're like, hey, here's a percentage of my income. I'm dedicating this to what God's doing in the world. And you give it up front. That's a discipline, a spiritual discipline. Corporate worship, deciding, you know what I'm gonna gather with other believers for corporate worship. All of those are spiritual disciplines. They are small deposits over time that make all the difference in the world. Because that's the nature of a discipline. A discipline is a small deposit over time. This is a small deposit over time that renews your mind and builds your faith.
Fourth one's a providential relationships. Whenever a person tells their faith story, they always talk about, and then I met this guy, or then I met this family, or then this couple moved into our neighborhood, or then my parents introduced me to a friend. And there's always a somebody in the story that God uses. And when we look back on our lives, it's like, I just feel like God brought them into my life. That's the fourth thing that always builds our faith. And the last one is pivotal circumstances. Pivotal circumstances. Circumstances that God uses to get our attention to begin with, or circumstances God uses in order to help us rekindle or reignite our faith or capture our attention. Because after all, we're fine without God, until we're not.
In fact, maybe you're here today or maybe you're at one of our churches today, or you're watching today because of a pivotal circumstance. You were fine and then you weren't. You had it all figured out and then you didn't. And now it's like, God, I don't know who you are. I don't even know how to pray. But if you're up there somewhere, out there somewhere, I need something because I am not enough for what I'm facing today. God uses pivotal circumstances to grow faith. Now here's the challenge. Our church, our organization, this organization, or the organization you're a part of, at your local church, even if it's not one of our churches. The local church can only do so much, right?
We can only do so much when you think about this list. You, and you know this, you have a part to play in developing your faith. I mean, we can keep delivering practical teaching, but you've gotta be here for it or you gotta be online to receive it. We can provide opportunities for you to serve personal ministry, but you've gotta engage in those opportunities or go on that mission trip or talk to your neighbor. And fortunately at our churches, thousands of you have stepped up to be involved in personal ministry. And it's why so many great things are happening in the next generation in our church. We appreciate that. But as it relates to these three, there's really not much I can do. There's really not, certainly not much I can do from here, right?
I mean, when it comes to private disciplines, you know about every fourth or fifth sermon you'll hear me say, you should read your Bible, you should read your Bible. But that doesn't create a habit for you. You should pray that doesn't create a habit for you. We can suggest tools, you know, every once in a while you can text, and we'll text you back and give you devotional thoughts, you know, during a series. But again, we can't develop that spiritual discipline habit for you, right? And in terms of providential relationships, I can't create a relationship for you. I certainly can't you know, create a providential relationship for you where you look back and it's like, wow, you know, I'm just so glad that person or those people came into my life and pivotal circumstances. You don't want us to create one of those for you, right?
I send somebody by your house while you're at church to throw a brick through your window and you get home after church and it looks like somebody's broken into your house and you feel fear. And because you feel fear, you pray and because you pray, your faith gets bigger and then it all works out. You know, you don't need any help with pivotal circumstances, right? They come rolling in without any outside help. In fact, Jesus said... Here's a promise, whether you're a Christian or a religious person or not. Here's something Jesus said that you know is true. He said, in this world you will have trouble. It's like, wow, that came true. Yes, absolutely.
And then Jesus did not say, follow me and you won't have any trouble. He said, follow me and you will stay outta trouble, but follow me and there won't be any trouble. He did not say. He said, just the way the world is, just wait a minute 'cause it's coming for you. So the point of all that is this. These three which are so critical to your faith, these three which are to critical to your faith. In fact, find me a person who has lost faith. I'll show you someone, I'm not being critical of you if this is you, this is just the nature of things. I'll find you somebody who's drifted away from these three things and got wrecked by this one.
We'll come back to that in just a minute. But the point is, these three are best facilitated, experienced, encouraged, and monitored not in rows, but in a circle, in a small group with men and women or individuals in your season of life that are facing some of the same life challenges, who are trying to figure out how does this faith thing intersect with my real world? And so that's why we staff for and budget for, and urge you constantly to join a small group. You being in a small group in a home does not benefit the church corporately. In fact, we spend money to help facilitate small groups. There is no win for us corporately. This is for you. But we're committed to this because for 30 years, we've been committed to help raising up men and women who have really big, active, bold faith in God.
And we want you in a circle with people who are in your season of life wrestling with the same life issues, relationship issues, financial issues, parenting issues, maybe aging parenting issues, marriage, career, whatever it might be. And here's the thing, if you have decided to follow Jesus with your life, then every single one of those areas of life intersects with the teaching of Jesus. There's something about following Jesus as a parent, as a husband, a wife, as a grandparent, as an employee, as an employer, as a neighbor, as a friend. Following Jesus intersects all of those things. And again, you're never gonna hear me cover all the eventualities and all the details of your life to answer your questions. No, no preacher's that good. There's just not enough time. We're too diverse in terms of our seasons of life.
And that's okay. That kind of conversation doesn't happen in rows, it happens in circles Because it's not always obvious how to follow Jesus. And it's not always obvious what to do. We all, me included, maybe me more than you. We all need a safe place to process out loud, to share our doubts in a safe place, to ask our questions and not just get a Bible verse or some pithy answer, but to really drill down on your difficult questions 'cause you're smart and you have good questions, you have big faith questions. We all need a place to ultimately tell our stories.
If you have never had the opportunity or the experience of sitting down in a circle and somebody saying, tell us your story, you're missing out on one of the greatest joys in life. Not just because you enjoy talking about yourself, but because when you tell your story to a group of new friends, something happens in those relationships instantly, I'm telling you instantly. And we all need a place where people pray for us and where we get to pray for other people. Lemme just ask you this real quick. Don't answer out loud. When is the last time, maybe never, you heard somebody pray for you out loud and if you're like, oh, all the time, well, let me flip it around.
Did you know there are people that maybe you're in a small group with now, or maybe you'll eventually be in a small group with who have never in their entire lives, I know this from personal experience, lots of personal experience. There are people who have never heard someone pray for them by name out loud. And it is a powerful, powerful experience and that's not gonna happen. In here on Sundays, what do we do? We dish out information, we got great music, we dish out inspiration, I dish out general application. But group life is where those concepts and those insights collide with real life, where they collide with your life. That's where it actually gets real. That's where it gets personal. And most importantly, group is where we become accountable because we're gonna see those same people week after week after week after week.
And we're gonna be able to follow up with them, and they follow up with us. We're gonna become accountable to do, we're gonna become accountable to change, to try, to start. And here's the thing, and I say this to you all the time, it is doing that makes the difference. It's not believing. When our faith becomes action, things change. As long as our faith is just faith, nothing changes. This is why, you know, as if you do what I do, you hear all the stories and there's about five stories. I'll just be honest, okay? And people start talking. I'm like, oh yeah, that's this one. But that's okay. I'm not gonna interrupt you. But your experience is unique to you. But I hate to burst your bubble, you're not all that unique. And I'm not all that unique.
There's about five stories, okay? And so when people begin to tell their story, it becomes evident. But here's the point. Look up here if you've lost interest, back with me, okay? I understand. It's like I wonder how many of those things they have. Okay, just back up here a second. Put your phone down at home, put your phone down, just gimme your attention for just a second. Okay? Look up here. This is what I want for you. This is so what I want for you.
When you obedience to God, in other words, you feel like there's something I need to do or I need to do different, I need to get outta that relationship. I've known for a long time I need to get outta that relationship. I need to get outta that relationship. I need to recommit to this relationship. I've known for a long time. I need to recommit to this relationship. I need to get out of this city because this city's killing me. And all my friends are the wrong kinds of friends, and I'm the wrong kind of friend to them. I got a new... Whatever it is. I need to be more generous or I need to have a budget or I, you know, I need to break a habit. Whatever your thing is.
Listen, when your obedience to God, like I'm gonna do this God, and I'm trusting you. When in when your obedience intersects with God's faithfulness, or the way I say it sometimes is when your faith, your active faith intersects with God's faithfulness, this is where change happens. This is where you grow, this is where you mature. This is where God becomes real in your life. It's not in your head, it is in your obedience to God. This is why throughout the gospels, Jesus invited His disciples to do the craziest things. And He had to hurry. He only had three years, it was a crash course. Get in the boat, we're gonna have a storm. You're gonna think you're gonna drown. I'm gonna save you. We gotta get this thing going.
I only got three years, okay? So there was a crash course on trust me, trust me, trust me, trust me. God is big enough to care for you in your life and in my life. I'm telling you. When you take those baby steps, those initial steps of okay, I'm gonna try this, I'm gonna do this. And when your faith, if you've been on a mission trip, you get this. It's like, okay, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go. And during that trip, you saw God work and you come back, and you are changed. When your faith intersects with God's faithfulness, change happens. Your faith gets bigger.
And here's the thing, you'll be far more likely to follow through and to do with people of faith surrounding you. You just will. I can't do that for you. As soon as I'm finished, you're out. It's lunchtime or you turn off, and you're gonna watch something else. And it's, you know, outta sight outta mind. When you are surrounded by people of faith, you are far more likely to follow through and to do and doing is what makes the difference in your life. And doing is what makes the difference in your faith. And group life ensures that we're not just hearers but doers. If you grew up in church, you're familiar with this statement.
James, the brother of Jesus made, I just always think it's amazing that we have a first century document written by the brother of Jesus. In fact, James was just mentioned in that passage I showed you a while ago. James became a famous Jesus follower after Jesus rose from the dead. Before Jesus rose from the dead, ah, it's just my crazy brother. Jesus rises from the dead. It's like, and He's my Lord. Okay? So that's what happens when somebody rises from the dead. All the categories change. And James wrote this document and in it he says the most interesting thing. You're familiar with this. He says to all of us, he says to you know, religious people everywhere and Christians in particular, don't merely be a hearer. He says, don't merely, don't merely listen to the preacher, don't merely listen to the podcast.
"Don't merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourself". Which we're like, wait a minute, I thought I got credit for listening. I mean some of you come on, the only reason you go to mass, the only reason you go to church. It's like, did you see God? You saw me like you saw. So like I'm on your good side. And James is going, are you kidding? You're deceiving yourselves. That doesn't do you any good. But I attended and I watched online. James, the brother of Jesus says, if you think that's helpful, if you think that's all there is, that somehow God's going bless that dude. He's went and in fact he stayed extra 10 minutes talking to people. So we're keeping his... He's like, you're deceiving yourself.
James says, I'm not buying it. And your heavenly Father's not buying it. He loves you too much to buy it. "Don't merely listen to the words and so deceive yourself. Do what it says". Why? 'Cause doing is what makes the difference. It doesn't get you into heaven. It makes you life a little bit more heavenly because you've invited the faithfulness of God into your marriage and your parenting and every other area of your life. And then he gives the most extraordinary illustration in all of the New Testament.
One of the greatest illustrations ever, certainly among ancient writers. He says, look, listening and not doing anything, he says, you know what that's like adults. It's like getting up in the morning, walking in the bathroom, looking in the mirror and going, eh, and then going to work or going to school and not doing anything about what you see, to which we would say, I would never do that. And he's like, well that's what you're doing in your relationship with God. You're listening to the preacher going, wow, that's convicting and I'm not gonna do anything about it. He says, and I would add there is a group of people who get up in the morning and glance in the mirror and don't do anything about it. We call them children.
And James is saying, don't be a children, don't be immature. Don't do in the most important arena of your life what you would never do physically. And why don't we do that physically? Because other people see us. To which James is going, aha. Did you know that other people see what you do not just what you look at and they look like and they see how you react to life, not just what you do in life? So don't be a children, don't be immature. So anyway, sorry, back to our list. Back to our list. These three things I can't do for you, the church can't do for you. You have to do for you. We will put the ball on the tee, we will give you opportunities, we're gonna give you tools, but if your faith is gonna grow, you've gotta engage.
And these three things are best experienced, monitored, and facilitated in a circle, not in a row, in a small group. And here's what happens. These somewhat, I'll call 'em engineered relationships 'cause you're gonna sign up for a small group or show up for a small group for the first time. You're not gonna know anybody. You're gonna go, this is so fabricated, this is so engineered. Okay, let me just, you can argue over lunch what I'm about to say. But listen. Most of if not all of your relationships are engineered. You didn't choose to be born. You didn't choose to be born to your family. Engineered, right? And from there on, same thing.
The reason you love your neighbors is 'cause you live in that neighborhood and before you love those neighbors, you move there, engineered. You don't feel close to my neighbors. You don't live in my neighborhood. I don't even know who your neighbors are. And you're the greatest people in the world. I don't even, I don't know them. Why? Not because they're not great people. The reason you love that guy at work, those people at work is 'cause you got the job there and they got the job. Almost all of our relationships are engineered by outside circumstances. Small group is no different. But your best friends, you know, so and so is my best friend. Where did you meet?
And you're gonna answer a question where you met. It had nothing to do with the relationship and everything to do with, well that's where I got into college or that's the school I chose or who lived in that county. So I went to that high school. They're all engineered. So you gotta get over that, guys. You gotta get over that. Okay? It does feel a little bit artificial. That's okay. You are accustomed to that. My first date with Sandra, I didn't even know who I was going out with. I didn't know what she looked like. I didn't know anything about her. But a friend of mine engineered, and I mean it's long story, he engineered it like you are going out with her.
And I'm so glad he engineered what became my most amazing, wonderful relationship. So I thought Sandra would clap. She didn't clap. But anyway, it's okay. She was clapping in her heart. I know she was clapping in her heart. Okay, I'm clapping in my heart Honey too. Anyway, so here's my point. Look back up here. These somewhat engineered relationships, look up here, often become providential relationships and catalytic relationships and long-term relationships. These engineered relationships you're gonna show up in a small group will be the people that God uses to grow up and blow up your faith. And we hear it all the time. I don't know where I would be without my small group. I don't know what we would have done without our small group.
Suddenly these relationships become so personal and so important to people. So as it relates to pivotal circumstances, I want to come back to this in just a minute. This is so important then we're done. This one right here. As you know, disruptive, big, generally bad events, either strengthen or destroy a person's faith. I've been doing this a long time as a pastor. What makes the difference is not the event. Just like you, you have illustrations too. I've met families or individuals who went through similar experiences and one lost their faith and one actually found their faith or their faith got strengthened. It's not the event.
Do you know what makes the difference? Here's what makes the difference. Three things. What we believe when those events happen, who we listen to and how we frame it. That's what determines whether or not a big negative event either wrecks your faith or builds your faith. People who lose faith because of really, really difficult bad circumstances usually lose it. They usually have some sort of fault or flaw in their faith and it's not their fault. They either didn't grow up in a community of faith or they went to a church where their faith wasn't allowed to grow up.
This is why I say this all the time. A faith that never grows up can't bear up under the rigors of adulthood. If your faith isn't allowed to grow up, it's just not gonna bear up. So oftentimes people's faith falls apart during difficult circumstances because there was a fault. There was a problem with their faith. And without a faith community, not this, without a circle, without those kinds of relationships and without a place to ask our questions and to grieve and to complain and to doubt out loud, our faith is going to suffer.
And what makes all the difference is who we listen to during those seasons and during those moments. And how our tragedy or how that bump in our life gets framed. How we frame life events, I'm telling you makes all the difference in the world. And re-framing or properly framing a difficult life event is one of the most important roles that a small group plays. And here's the thing, if you have a circle when it happens, you are so blessed. And if you don't, you don't. And it's too late in that moment to get that because these are relationships, and we want you to be ready. How we frame those experiences makes all the difference.
And again, this is one of the roles that groups play. You are far more. Then we're almost done, I promise. You are far more likely to make it through with people of faith surrounding you. And we all need people. We all need people who can help us find God in the storms. Here's what I've learned personally. Here's what I've seen multiple times. If we, and some of you are right in this right now, maybe this is for you. If we can find God in it, we are far more likely to maintain faith through it. If you can find God in it, you are far more likely to maintain faith through it.
This is why it's so amazing when the disciples are in this boat, they're fishermen, they've lived their lives, most of 'em on this lake. This is not new experience. When they think the boat's gonna sink, and they think they're gonna drown, Jesus is in the boat with them asleep sleep to make His point. When you can find God in it, you are more than likely, you're gonna be able to make it through it. And you need people to help you do that.
So back to where we started. Here's what I want for you. Unmistakable, unshakeable, faith in God that informs all of your decisions. And to get that, you need more than sermons. And I like sermons. I spend a lot of time coming up with these sermons. But I'm telling you, I'm admitting, sermons aren't enough, and I love our music. Songs are not enough. You need a circle. You need conversations about what it looks like to follow Jesus in your world, in your unique circumstances, with your unique family dynamics, with your unique challenges, your unique opportunities. And if you're hesitant and if it still feels too artificial and you're not sure it's gonna be very helpful, you're not alone. Tim felt the very same way. And here's a bit of he and Madeleine's story. Check this out.