Faith, Not Fear

“Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.” Matthew 17:20

The things that we as a church could do if we constantly live and lead by faith is immeasurable.

I had a conversation with another Youth Worker recently. We talked about the blessing and the problems that we have faced. Our conversation lead to the opportunities that have came and gone because of our fears, and not the afraid of heights or the dark fears.

We came to the conclusion that many of our decisions were governed by the fear of making the wrong decision, or afraid of ruining our budget for the year, afraid of nothing working out, or afraid of making someone upset.

So, what would Jesus do?

Matthew 25:14-30

¹⁴ “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. ¹⁶ He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. ¹⁷ So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. ¹⁸ But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. ¹⁹ Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ ²¹ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²² And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ ²³ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²⁴ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, ²⁵ so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ ²⁶ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? ²⁷ Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸ So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. ²⁹ For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰ And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

We have been entrusted with a little here at Ripley and in the Student Ministries. Now is the time to invest in the students! I believe that we can grow beyond our borders here at Ripley. But it will require us to live dangerously. The “nothing can stop us now!” dangerously.

How can start and continue to lead by faith, live dangerously and not be governed by fear? I wish I could say it will be easy. It will take 3 things.

1. Time. The students need our time. Most of them already feel that they are in the way of the busyness of the world around them, and if we don’t give them our time, how will they know that they are important? How can we help them grow if we send them off to Sunday School, camp, or youth group without being present ourselves?

When everyone says, “I don’t connect well with [the students]”, or “My schedule won’t allow it.” No one is left to teach and spend time with these students. It is not one person’s job, it is the church’s job.

2. Energy. I spent a summer and two semesters traveling with Destiny and Camp Teams with Kentucky Christian University. They warned us how it will drain us physically and emotionally. But being a spry young man, I didn’t think much of it.

Nearing the end of summer and spending every night in a bunk, and eating camp food only, I realized what being physically and emotionally exhausted meant. I would give 100% to the students everyday. They would always pick the college students to be on their teams, always ask to be blobbed. We were the last to bed and first to rise. They would wake us up in the middle of the night. They would come to us with life’s problems that a student in High school should not have to go through. They would need our prayers and our shoulders.

I would not trade that summer for anything.  It was more than rewarding to see students come to the Lord, get baptized and to stay in contact with many of them to see that they are off doing God’s work.

3.Resources. Who will help shuttle students to and from activities? Who will donate furniture (not trash)? Where will we find the paint to make things look new and exciting? Where will our curriculum come from?

In order to stay relevant and grow there must also be a pool of resources so that we can match that growth. Technology and the world is constantly evolving. Christians must match it by using all resources to get the Word out. If we are afraid of using our resources, then we are just like the servant with the 1 talent.

The Student Ministries needs parents, teachers, leaders, and volunteers who live by faith and not fear.