
THANK YOU! EASTER WAS AMAZING THANKS TO YOU.
Would you consider being a ‘lead worshipper’ in the video venue please?
FAITH IS EVIDENCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR AND THINGS NOT SEEN.
Today we launch a new series called ‘Follow the Leader’
Would you say your faith-o-meter is full, half full or running on empty?
Do you even think that ‘faith’ is relevant anymore?
A challenge is, that according to the Barna research group; nearly 1 out of 4 Americans think that faith is irrelevant and that nearly 1 out of 3 of Generation Z see it as irrelevant.
So, I understand that you may think that this series will be wasted time for you, but what if I could show you that everything that truly matters to you or that will truly matter to you by the time you’re my age is found on a highway called ‘faith’? Would you suspend your suspicion and amp your curiosity enough to see if faith highway may just be the best road for you as your shift into your future.
Three reasons we need faith now more than ever:
- More people experiencing disconnection disorders than ever. Traveling faith highway with friends is a great gift you can give yourself. Way more screen time and yet way more haunting loneliness and angst and depression and even suicide at epic levels.
- We have the most powerful and potent arsenal of technology the world has ever seen and now we have to make incredibly difficult decisions about how we will either rule over the creation or be ruled by it.
- The world is changing faster than ever and you simply cannot have 100% certainty about very many things because by the time you get ‘there’ the game has changed and the career you’ve just spent years preparing for has been wiped out by some cutting edge new technology or a disruptive new company. So, to navigate in these turbulent times faith highway offers a solid solution through the shifting sands of our culture, time and space.
OVERALL it’s about certain uncertainty – we have more uncertainty in our lives than ever on a more massive scale than ever.
You could say I lost my faith in science and progress
You could say I lost my belief in the holy church
You could say I lost my sense of direction
You could say all of this and worse butIf I ever lose my faith in you
There’d be nothing left for me to do —STING
“If I Ever Lose My Faith In You” as made popular by STING
EVEN STING KNOWS THAT FAITH HAS HUGE BENEFITS TO YOU ON EVERY FRONT OF YOUR LIFE.
So, I want to introduce you to Jesus, or maybe re-introduce you to Him as if it’s for the very first time. When you take Him as YOUR leader and follow Him by faith. He has a way of bringing you into a life giving relationship with God which we were born for and are hauntingly lonely without. And, He invites us into a journey with others who follow Him as friends for the journey - thus churches like Phos exist for communities of followers of the Way to travel together.
The challenge of faith is that MAYBE IT FEELS LIKE THAT ALL HOPE IS GONE THE WAY IT FELT FOR JESUS FOLLOWERS WHEN HE DIED ON THAT CROSS ON GOOD FRIDAY.
Life can disappoint us and knock the faith right out of us. That’s where the followers were behind those closed doors. Maybe that’s where you’re camping out today. Heartbroken and not feeling much faith to move out of the grief of this moment.
Easter Day events…. Luke 24
- In the garden At the tomb early in the morning
- On the road
- Behind closed doors
Jesus appears to us … sometimes incognito as we drive down the road and sometimes in stunning 3 D and sometimes through the stories of others who have encountered Him.
Who are you most like in this story?
So, it’s after - Easter in the lives of Jesus’ followers and those who have faith in the resurrection of the son of God have an important question in front of them don’t they?
SINCE JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD WHAT’S NEXT? WELL, THE WRITER OF THE BOOK WE CALL LUKE CAPTURES THE GAME PLAN FOR SHIFTING FROM FEAR TO FAITH IN LUKE 24:36-53
Somehow this motley crew shifted from frozen in fear into fleet footed faith filled fire up action takers.
Their little closed door gathering grew into a force to be reckoned with and their fears turned to faith on fire fueled by the Holy Spirit and they ‘turned the whole world upside down!’
What we believe about Jesus and His resurrection showed up in how the lives of His followers called ‘the Way’ and it still does. What you believe, what you truly believe moves from your head into your body and compels you to take action. It moves you. It’s like good music … it causes you to move… to dance … to twitch … to tap your feet.
Belief is like hearing the music. Faith is doing the dance. —Jeff Fuson
THE RESULTS OF FOLLOWING JESUS INSTRUCTIONS in Luke 24 lead to powerful actions in ACTS 2.
ACTS 2 – Peter’s transformation and first sermon to those who killed Jesus.
FAITH IS AN ACTION VERB – NOT JUST A NOUN 0R SOMETHING THAT YOU OWN.
By definition faith requires ACTION.
Faith has an A.C.E. up its sleeve.
Faith is ACTIVE, CONFIDENT, ENDURING
[ it’s not just a mental head nod to the sky fairy you’ve named Jesus. ]
HOW DID PETER AND THOSE EARLY FOLLOWERS SHIFT FROM FEAR TO FAITH?
- THEY GOT FACE TO FACE WITH JESUS
- THEY BELIEVED WHAT HE SAID AND THEN DID WHAT HE SAID BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED
- THEY WAITED FOR POWER
- THEY GOT THE POWER
- THEY ACTED ON THAT POWER AND TRANSFORMED FROM PEOPLE WHO BELIEVED STUFF ABOUT JESUS TO THOSE WHO CARRIED THE TORCH OF FAITH INTO A DARK WORLD BOLDLY AND UNAPOLOGETICALLY.
The writer of the book we now call Hebrews gives us a powerful metaphor for our lives as faith filled Christ followers when he writes in Hebrews 12:1-2. These are the focal verses for this series and I invite you and encourage you to memorize them fully. Take them into your mind – marinade your mind in them and then let that sink into your heart over the weeks ahead.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Hebrews 11:6
Follow the Leader! Series Begins – FAITH IS LIKE running– IT’S A THING YOU do, or PRACTICE or work at – a thing you do, a thing you can get better at – OR NOT. It’s not static – use it or lose it. Faith Hall of Fame and how to get into the ‘faith’ starting blocks in the coming weeks. What it looks like to follow Jesus. It looks ‘athletic’ / it looks like an action verb / it’s verbacious.
FAITH WEARS RUNNING SHOES – IT GETS GOING WHEN GOD SAYS TO – IT MOVES AND SWEATS AND HURTS AND ACHES AND GETS STRONGER AND MORE VIBRANT WITH USE.
The Amazing 36 Hour Rescue in Armenia
Faith wears running shoes. FAITH DOES.
_
END OF MESSAGE
HOMEWORK:
1. Memorize Hebrews 12:1-2 and Hebrews 11:6
2. Make plans to Join us for the ‘Watermelon 5 K’on Sunday Evening July 21 at Commerce Parkway or Old Lagrange Road – details TBD
3. S.O.A.P. YOUR WAY THROUGH HEBREWS 10-12 IS foundational to our faith filled following of Jesus – the author and perfecter of our faith.
4. Get Baptized! Mother’s Day or Father’s Day or in Charleston on our Beach Night.
GET IN SHAPE!! STRAP ON THOSE WALKING/RUNNING SHOES AND LET’S GO!
Consider taking up a little running and memorizing and meditating while you do so to prepare for our first ever, and maybe ONLY, Watermelon 5K coming up on July 21. If you’re interested and want a training plan here’s one you can check out:
“The FOLLOW THE LEADER ‘WATERMELON’5K”
Sunday evening July 21 at 6 PM on Commerce. Walk / Run / stroll / Ride 10 K if you must ride … $25 to enter …. Cool t-shirt with Phos Logo and Key Verse written.
Proceeds to benefit Prodigal Ministries this year.
Coaching: Craig Burge and Todd Mullins or online at: https://www.healthynomics.com/couch-to-5k-running-plan-alternative/
Other Notes and things that didn’t make it to the sermon or that are referenced in the sermon:
Belief and faith are not exactly the same. Believing in God and what He says leads to active trust – faith – which shifts from mere mental assent to actions exhibiting the belief. Beliefs can be in your mind, but faith tends to take action.
Faith defined: BLUE LETTER BIBLE TREATMENT OF THE WORD ‘ FAITH’ WHICH IS PISTIS IN GREEK
Faith and Belief get used interchangeably in most of the Bible. Consider Romans 11:20 HCSB
FAITH DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THIS: HEBREWS 10:26-39
FAITH LOOKS LIKE THIS: HEBREWS 11:1-12
The Life you Long for Is Found on the twisty winding Faith Road that often looks like a dirt path at best or a gravel one lane road as a little upgrade. Rarely does faith road open up into a 6 lane superhighway that is well lit, freshly paved and all signed up with detailed instructions. Faith highway often feels a little like you’re ‘off the beaten path’
Two roads diverged in the woods … you can walk by faith or by sight. Choosing faith as your path will seem absurd to yourself, but more hauntingly it can feel like a ‘death’ road when you’re on it. What is seen is NOT real and what is NOT seen is real. The conundrum.
So, you better be in touch with the one who knows the future and who is FOR YOU. He sent His son
to be ‘the way’ and to ‘show’ you the way to go. He seals that with the Holy Spirit.
Closing story source:
https://armenianweekly.com/2011/06/21/vartabedian-are-you-going-to-help-me/
APRIL 26, 2019
Vartabedian: Are you going to help me?
June 21, 2011 at 12:56 pm Tom Vartabedian Tom Vartabedian 10
Every once in awhile—and more often than not—a story comes along that warms the cockles of my heart. It may not be one that I have written but something I read.
Reading has always been a passion with me, not necessarily marathon books like War and Peace or Crime and Punishment, but rather quickies.
Lately I’ve been perusing the pages of these Chicken Soup books—stories that open the heart and rekindle the spirit. This morning, I happened to run across a story compiled by one of the authors, Mark Victor Hansen. I’d like to share it because it was one that escaped my attention, and quite possibly yours as well.
It had to do with the 8.2 earthquake that struck Armenia back in 1989 when the country was flattened, killing over 30,000 people in less than four minutes. Whether the incident took place in Gyumri or Spitak remains to be seen. Those were the areas that took the brunt of the loss.
In the midst of utter devastation and chaos, a father left his wife securely at home and rushed to the school where his son was supposed to be, only to discover that the building had been flattened as a pancake.
After the traumatic initial shock, this man remembered the promise he had made to his son: “No matter what, I’ll always be there for you!” And tears began to fill his eyes. As he looked at the pile of debris that once was the school, it looked hopeless, but he kept remembering his commitment to his son.
He began to concentrate on where he walked his son to school each morning. Remembering his son’s classroom would be in the back right corner of the building, he rushed there and started digging through the rubble.
As he was digging, other forlorn parents arrived, clutching their hearts, saying, “My son!” “My daughter!”
Other well-meaning parents tried pulling him off what was left of the school, saying:
“It’s too late!”
“They’re dead!”
“You can’t help!”
“Go home!”
“Come on, face reality, there’s nothing you can do!”
“You’re just going to make things worse!”
To each parent, he responded with one line: “Are you going to help me now?”
And then he proceeded to dig for his son, stone by stone.
The fire chief showed up and tried to pull him off the school’s debris, saying, “Fires are breaking out, explosions are happening everywhere. You’re in danger. We’ll take care of it. Please go home.”
To which this loving, caring Armenian father asked, “Are you going to help me now?”
The police came and said, “You’re angry, distraught, and it’s over. You’re endangering others. We’ll take care of it. Go home.”
No one helped.
Courageously, he proceeded alone because he needed to know for himself: “Is my boy alive, or is he dead?”
He dug for eight hours…12 hours…24, and 36 hours. Then, in the 38th hour, he pulled back a boulder and heard his son’s voice. The man screamed his son’s name, “Armand!”
He heard back, “Dad? It’s me, Dad! I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you’d save me, and when you saved me, they’d be saved. You promised, ‘No matter what, I’ll always be there for you!’ You did it, Dad!”
“There are 14 of us left out of 33, Dad. We’re scared, hungry, thirsty, and thankful you’re here. When the building collapsed, it made a wedge, like a triangle, and it saved us.”
“Come on out, boy!”
“No, Dad! Let the other kids come out first, because I know you’ll get me. No matter what, I know you’ll be there for me.”
Now, here it is, 22 years later, and stories about the earthquake still permeate our lives. Two years ago when I visited Gyumri, a trip to the music academy found me interviewing the director. She was driven to the streets, pregnant at the time, while barely escaping her toppled home.
Others around her weren’t so fortunate. The school she taught at was leveled, along with much of the surroundings. The woman vowed to see her institute rebuilt and followed her dream as a memorial tribute to those who were connected to music and the performing arts.
Stories like these aren’t exactly Tolstoy or Dostoevsky, but are every bit as memorable in their own small way.
Latest Posts
Tom Vartabedian
Tom Vartabedian is a retired journalist with the Haverhill Gazette, where he spent 40 years as an award-winning writer and photographer. He has volunteered his services for the past 46 years as a columnist and correspondent with the Armenian Weekly, where his pet project was the publication of a special issue of the AYF Olympics each September.
10 COMMENTS
Random Armenian says:
JUNE 21, 2011 AT 2:22 PM
Minor correction. The earthquake was about 6.8 or 6.9 in magnitude. This makes it even more tragic. Bad building construction is what amplified the quake’s destructive potential.
Thank you for sharing these stories from that tragic day.
REPLY
Vahram Sookikian says:
JUNE 22, 2011 AT 12:32 PM
Tom, I don’t just like it, I LOVE it, It’s the true Armenian Spirit!
REPLY
MALLIKARJUNA SHARMA says:
JULY 7, 2017 AT 12:33 PM
But the question is though the story is exemplary, quite nice and heart moving, whether it is true or not? If there was a father like that who saved his son alone like that if not with all other children, or recovered the dead body of his son like that with all his strenuous labour? Or is it wholly fictional? Those who have gone there must have enquired that also.
Michael Varadian says:
JUNE 22, 2011 AT 1:22 PM
Tom:
Another wonderful article, sharing a story that is in all of our hearts. You never know how you will personally respond to a crisis situation like this when it happends. When i went to Gumri and Spitak after the earthquake to help open the Children’s Hospital in Gumri that the Austrian government built, I met many of these parents that fit the description of this father. Most were not as lucky as he, but then most did not do what he did. Trusting the same authorities who allowed these inadequate structures to be built, who put people at risk for their own personal profit and who have shown inconsideration to the common man then and after the recovery ended, may not be the best path to follow in this situation. Following your heart and commitment to your family should be a strong contender for your actions and influence of others. It pains me to wonder how many others could have been saved with a more aggressive and sensitive response, beyond whatever heroic efforts were made.
Michael
REPLY
jimmy carbone says:
JUNE 22, 2011 AT 4:21 PM
tom – it’s been many years since i left haverhill. my mother dies in march, and i got inspired- see this planning forum i’ve organized for july 15 in nyc about creating a vision for places like haverhill, transforming with green industries like microbreweries. shoetown to brewtown….read the ” about” section….
http://www.shoetowntobrewtown.com
i’m a restauranteur http://www.jimmysno43.com ,
radio host http://www.heritageradionetwork.com see “beer sessions radio”
REPLY
GregF says:
JULY 8, 2013 AT 1:30 PM
This is certainly a heartwarming story. However, is there any verification that it actually happened? In Chicken Soup for the Soul (2012 edition) the introduction says that “We have attributed every story we could to the original source.” This story is only attributed to Mark Victor Hansen, one of the authors of the book and a motivational speaker.
REPLY
Frank Buchanan says:
AUGUST 28, 2016 AT 6:57 AM
Great story. Exemplifies how most Dads would react to save a beloved Son. I was there and many, many Armenians did not give up on each other. These heroic people dug for weeks with there bare hands with little sleep or nourishment. Being there at that time, under those conditions has affected me deeply all these years . I still dream of Armenia and Gyane, Hovic and Nurses. The kids, the families the proud history, the culture. I can taste the rose petal jam and fresh buttered bread for breakfast and see the smile on Nurses face as we argued world politics across the table. My heart broke for you when I had to leave.
REPLY
Some guy who keeps seeing 1989 and is confused says:
OCTOBER 4, 2017 AT 8:53 PM
1989? Wasn’t it 1988?
REPLY
Professor (Dr.) S.P. Chauhan says:
MARCH 9, 2018 AT 1:33 AM
I have been using this true story ( I feel it is true) in my motivational speeches. some of the lessons we learn from this story are: let us not forget commitment we have made because that will make you stronger, courageous, positive to honour the commitment, will make you ‘never-say-die-spirit’ person. Listen your heart and not many who look at darker side and give up without making sincere efforts.This is an apt example – come what may don’t die before death.
REPLY
Maria says:
OCTOBER 12, 2018 AT 3:24 PM
For those asking if this story is true. Yes, it is. One of the 14 children who survived moved to the United States with her family. I used to work with her many years ago and she told me this exact same story. How a lot of the students had died but there were 14 of them who survived and they waited for a day and half to be rescued. Beautiful story.
REPLY
Someone Finally Made A History Podcast About the Armenian Genocide
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If I ever lose my faith in you – sting - lyrics
“If I Ever Lose My Faith In You”
Source: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/sting/ifieverlosemyfaithinyou.html
You could say I lost my faith in science and progress
You could say I lost my belief in the holy church
You could say I lost my sense of direction
You could say all of this and worse but
If I ever lose my faith in you
There’d be nothing left for me to do
Some would say I was a lost man in a lost world
You could say I lost my faith in the people on TV
You could say I’d lost my belief in our politicians
They all seemed like game show hosts to me
If I ever lose my faith in you
There’d be nothing left for me to do
I could be lost inside their lies without a trace
But every time I close my eyes I see your face
I never saw no miracle of science
That didn’t go from a blessing to a curse
I never saw no military solution
That didn’t always end up as something worse but
Let me say this first
If I ever lose my faith in you
There’d be nothing left for me to do
J.D. GRAEER ON HOW PEOPLE WERE SAVED IN THE O.T.
How Were People Saved in the Old Testament?
DEVOTIONALPASTOR J.D.APR 22, 2019
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I often get the question, “How were people saved in the Old Testament?” To answer this question, I usually follow the Apostle Paul’s logic in Romans 4.
When God chose Abraham to father a nation and promised to one day bring salvation into the world through him, Abraham and his wife were already in their 70s. They continued to be childless until they were 90 years old.
Still, “[Abraham] believed, hoping against hope, so that he became the father of many nations according to what had been spoken: So will your descendants be” (Romans 4:18 CSB).
Abraham didn’t just believe in God in general; he believed a specific promise God had made, and he adjusted his life around it.
From that point on, Abraham started walking around with the expectation that he was having kids soon. He built a nursery and started picking out baby names, all while scouting out land for a new nation.
And, because Abraham “was fully convinced that what God had promised, he was also able to do … it was credited to him for righteousness” (Romans 4:21–22).
Tim Keller says, “Saving faith is not believing that God is there. Further, it is not believing in a God who saves. It is believing God when he promises a way of salvation by grace.”
Faith’s object is the promise of God. Faith is believing that God will do what God said he’d do and adjusting your life around that promise.
Paul goes on to make the bridge to us: “Now ‘it was credited to him’ was not written for Abraham alone, but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Romans 4:23–25).
Just like Abraham believed God would send a son that would bring salvation into the world as he was promised, we believe that Jesus is that son. The resurrection, Paul says in verse 25, was proof that God had accepted Jesus as the payment for our sins.
So, when we believe in the resurrection, we are saying, “I believe it worked! I believe Jesus accomplished what he said he accomplished! I believe when Jesus said ‘it is finished’ that it was finished.”
When we confess that and then live as if we believe in it, it is credited to us as righteousness.
Our faith, you see, is the same as Abraham’s: We both believe that God keeps his promise to send salvation. Abraham believed that God would send it; we believe that he has sent it.
People in the Old Testament were saved just like us: They looked forward to the cross; we look backward at it. The direction is different, but the object is the same.
People in the Old Testament were saved just like us: They looked forward to the cross; we look backward at it.