Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[Transcript of a midweek message published by Horley Baptist Church on YouTube^[1], March 2021]

Are you the kind of person that believes in anything, or are you sceptical and full of questions?
How should we be with faith in God – naive or questioning?

Hi guys, you find me in the chicken run again. It’s horrible out there, it’s raining, it’s wet and miserable. Yes, I am a fair weather film-maker but I promise you the dogs will get a walk later but thank you for joining me in the chicken run with the chickens and we’re going to carry on our series looking at encounters meeting with Jesus.

^[00:35] A few years ago now I had the great privilege of attending Bible College and that may not seem amazing to some of you but for me it was a dream come true. It gave me three years to spend time studying the Bible, learning about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit and all that sort of stuff, and I’m so thankful to all those that enabled me to do that. I got married in my first year and I used to come back from having my lectures – the lectures were very much there, particularly the first year, to unpack what we believed and to dismantle it, to take it down brick by brick so we can then rebuild our faith, and have a real solid understanding standing about what we believe.

^[01:19] I used to go back home after a day at college and discuss with my new wife, Jen, all the things that we’ve been learning about, all the difficult questions and the difficult issues that we were coming across and having to grapple with that really challenged our faith, and I remember Jen saying these words to me which really annoyed me. She said “You need to have a childlike faith”. When I came to all these difficult issues and questions that I needed answers to, she said, “You need to have a childlike faith”.

^[01:52] So, what does that mean? What is a child like faith and is it even possible because there are so many difficulties when it comes to our Christian faith, when it comes to believing in God, so many contradictions, so many historical issues. Surely a childlike faith is to put your hands over your ears and ignore all the difficult questions; maybe it’s to be naive, maybe it’s to be ignorant. Maybe those who have a child like faith are those who are unable to grapple with the hard truths of life. Perhaps childlike faith is a bit like the fact that my kids believe in the tooth fairy and father Christmas. Is it childlike faith like that – it ignores the evidence and just believes in anything.

^[03:04] Maybe that’s not what it means. Maybe having a childlike faith is coming to the realization that we do not have all the answers. Maybe it’s getting to the stage in your faith journey that you’re willing to believe in God and commit yourself to Jesus even though you don’t have all the answers. Despite all the difficulties, despite all the contradictions, having a childlike faith is about saying yes to God, to take his hand and to journey with Him despite any reservations that you might have. Maybe having a child like faith is being comfortable with the mystery of life and God, not needing to have all those answers.

^[03:55] Perhaps most of all what having a child like faith is is realizing that what is most important is knowing that firstly God is in control, secondly God has a plan, thirdly God loves you and fourthly He is welcoming you with open arms. So don’t miss out on the love that God has for you because you are so caught up in the difficulties and the mystery that you can’t see beyond that, and to find yourself sitting on the lap of your heavenly father feeling, experiencing and knowing the love that he has for you.

Hey guys thank you so much for tuning in to me and the chickens and thank you. Do subscribe to our Youtube channel, do please like this video because that will draw other watchers to the video. Do remember that this midweek message is a kind of a forerunner to the sermon that will be shown on our Sunday service at 10:30 this coming Sunday, where we continue our teaching series ‘encounters: meeting with Jesus’. So do join us for our Sunday service, or you can find the sermon separately on our YouTube channel. Thank you so much for joining us, do subscribe and do like. Cheers ’bye

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[1] YouTube link: Do I Need a Child-like Faith?
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