Looking Up: Faith at Work in Tough Times – Norm Wakefield

These are my raw notes of Norm Wakefield’s first talk at the 2011 Christian Life Conference in Monroe, WI

You are in a dangerous place – where there are speakers – it is so easy to just gather information – it is more than the page of notes – we should seek to listen through the speakers and seek Jesus.

We know more of Peter than almost any disciple – the primary preacher at Pentecost – author of two letters in the NT – walked on water!  But what he knew of Jesus should be what we all know. We can know Jesus as intimately as Peter.

Or temptation is when we examine ourselves and think we are in a good state in light of others  - the danger is to believe a little at that is all – the danger is to believe in God a little and think ourselves fine because those around us believe nothing.

There is the faith that saves and holds us up, and then there is a worldly faith that does not save

• What does faith look like?  1 Peter :1-2, 14-15, 22; 2:8, 13, 16, 21; 4:2, 6; 5:2
  • Those who are chosen
  • Those who obey
  • Those who have been sprinkled by His blood
  • Surrender to the will of God
  • We find God’s grace to obey  and His peace in the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus
• What does faith do? 1:5
  • Faith protects us
  • Faith is what saves us
  • Faith in tough times is what carries us through
• What is the basis of your faith? 1:3
  • A revelation that Jesus is Lord!
  • We need a revelation that Jesus is Lord – we need to understand what this means
  • To Peter, Jesus as Lord is central to His understand of who Jesus is
  • To Peter, the resurrection meant that Jesus is the Lord of life, the Lord of all
  • The resurrection is central to the understanding that Jesus is Lord
  • Reflection of Jesus meeting Peter – when the nets were full, Peter called Jesus Lord and pleaded with the Lord to leave him, because he was a sinful man – this is the way we need to see the Lord, and the way we need to see ourselves
  • Before we understand that Jesus is Lord, who was lord? We were. A faith that lets us still be lord is not God-wrought faith
• What is the pure milk of the Word?
  • Peter was writing to the Jews who were in Jerusalem when he was preaching
  • Acts 2:24, 36
  • What was the main thing that Peter preached? This is the milk of the Word, the basic substance, the beginning point: Jesus us Lord! We didn’t make Him Lord, the Father made Him Lord!
  • When we drink the pure milk of the word, we see Jesus as the Lord of every breath we take, we see Him as the Lord of all! (3:15)
  • The grace that comes when we see that Jesus is Lord is surrender and obedience
• Faith comes to those who look up: Fix your hope on God. (1:13)
  • Prepare your minds for action – get ready to have an encounter with Jesus
  • Keep sober in the Spirit – don’t let anything on this planet intoxicate you, steal your affections, this includes your afflictions
  • Fix your hope completely on the grace to come at you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
• What is it to “look up”?
  • Not to “try” harder
  • Not to “do” more
  • To trust Jesus as Lord
  • We cannot make faith happen – tough times are given from God to teach us to look up and see Jesus as Lord, fix your hope completely on the hope of Jesus as Lord, Lord of all.

About these ads