Sermon Outlines

By Frederick F. Schwindt, Evangelist

"WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?"

1. Voyage on a stormy sea:
2. Boat was filling with water:
3. Our Lord calmed the raging sea:

1. Simple and childlike trust:
   1. Indicates a condition of relationship - Heb. 11:6
   2. The secret of a living and victorious faith - 1 John 5:4
   3. The one great essential for achieving good results in the work of the Lord - Matt. 17:20, 21; Luke 17:16
2. This faith must be cultivated in the school of practical experience:
   1. That is why God kept the children of Israel forty years in the wilderness.
   2. That is why Moses took care of the sheep of Jethro for many years.
   3. That is why some of us pass through trying and difficult experiences.
3. A misplaced faith:
   1. It is based upon things visible and tangible -
      1. We think of the ten spies and their report to the congregation - Num. 13:29
      2. It brings to mind the story of the defeated Israelites - 1 Sam. 4:3-5
      3. Even Samuel had some difficulties on this point - 1 Sam. 16:7
   2. It is motivated by feeling -
      1. Peter had considerable trouble with this faith - Matt. 14:28-31; 26:35; Mark 14:66-72
      2. The children of Israel had a similar experience when they left Egypt - Ex. 15; 16
      3. Feeling is, in its very nature, blind; but when it is based upon sound reason and facts, it is an expression of heartfelt convictions - Rom. 9:1-3; John 2:13-17
4. The faith of the disciples limited God:
   1. They felt that should Christ remain asleep, all would be lost -
      1. This is a fatal weakness of human reasoning common to most of us. Man is prone to attempt to fit God into his own mold or imagination.
      2. The disciples forgot, overlooked, that He who was asleep in the boat was the same who created the seas in the first place.
      3. Their faith was based upon things material, and not upon God's Word.
   2. Man limits God when he puts God into the groove of his own imagination -
      1. Naaman attempted that with the God of Israel - 2 Ki. 5:1-11
      2. The king of the Syrians thought that God is circumscribed by the hills and the valleys - 1 Ki. 20:28

1. Some people limit God in their prayers:
   1. Their requests or petitions limit God to what they think they need. Too many of us are apt to do this.
   2. Others exclude in their prayers what God is ready to do for them. Our vision is so limited and the circle of our plans so narrow that we forget God's claim to the universe.
2. To limit God means:
   1. That we make it impossible to do what He can and would do if our faithlessness would not block the way.
   2. Had ancient Israel allowed God to work out His original plan for them, they could have entered the promised land in ten days instead of 40 years.
   3. We, too, limit God by refusing to follow His counsel. Think of what God could have done for the church of God if the members of the church had followed the counsel it received during the last century!
3. Where is our faith?
   1. Is it based upon the promises of God?
   2. Do we really live up to the light God has given to us?
   3. Will our faith be with us when the final crisis comes upon us?