Social Restoration - Phase 2: Social Action, Part 2

Regardless of the issue at hand.

Don't you find yourself saying Wortley's thinking.

What can I do most of us want to do something to help to make a difference to make our country and our life better.

So the question is, as the church of Jesus Christ. What can we do actually.

That's the statement, thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with children Living on the Edges of national discipleship training.

The Bible teacher in the middle of our series called social restoration. Looking at specific things serious minded believers countercultural pressure love like you missed any of these messages along the way are available on the map, or online at http://livingontheedge.org.

ryan began this message in our previous program. so today brings us part two of his talk social action trip will be with us after teaching. his thoughts should not miss that. if you have a bible open it out to james chapter 2. let's join wyoming donald berg in his book faith and doubt he unpacks three types of faith that we have or hold a talks about your public faith talks about your private faith and he talks about your core faith or public conviction private conviction and core conviction. here's what he says about each of those he says your public conviction is what you say you believe is what your posting on instagram right now it is is what you want others to perceive a view that is true of you, then your private conviction your private conviction is what you think. you believe is the things that you hold internally.

now the interesting thing about a private conviction.

let's just talk about maybe have a private conviction of generosity. maybe have a private conviction of equality for all humankind. maybe, maybe have a private conviction of integrity, and in doing what's right is those convictions which we hold them but they are really we don't really know how true they are.

until there put to the task to generosity is not put to the test when you have a lot but when you have a little integrity is not put to the test when you're just going about life and you have nothing that is confronting you integrity is put to the test.

once, when you have a private decision and you won't ever be found out about it early. she don't think you will and you have a decision on what you're going to do. see, for many are private conviction, what we think about ourselves and what actually is there some challenger distance says your your public conviction. what you say you believe your private conviction.

what you think you believe. and then there is your core conviction is what you actually believe revealed by how you live. see, this is convicting and is convicting for me see if i want to know what i really believe i just have to look at how i spend my time how i spend my energy how i spend my money see all those things reveal what i actually believe about god. see, i was confronted with this the other day as i would say both publicly and private conviction and and then i'm sitting in my living room and as the protesting began to move onto the streets. i was in heaven. quiet, simon. it's on my couch and my windows right here in my street is right there.

i look out my street as people are hitting the streets. there is no one on my street literally because of my circumstances i could stay in my safe home and be unaffected. i could stay comfortable sit back, see, is in that moment that god was challenging me of like okay are you going to have a faith that works. are you going to have a faith that engages are you going to have a faith that that's going to move into the uncomfortable powerful thing happened this week as a bunch of us pastors gathered together to join those that are speaking up for justice. we just came to speak up for justice in the name of jesus and to kneel in prayer for our country for our city for our brothers and sisters in the love and for justice see core conviction is revealed not by what i say but how i live in james is saying. your behavior reveals what you truly believe and then he's gonna say why this is so important is action is actually the completion of your faith and not in competition.

we believe the lie that somehow faith and works, and those things are in competition and there you know pulling against each other, not actions.

the completion of it, and he begins to tell abraham story and paul uses abraham story as well. when genesis chapter 15 of work abraham you know believed god, and it was credited to him as righteousness. that's genesis chapter 15 and then he fast forward to genesis 22, when god asked him thank you to sacrifice your only son, the son of promise goes okay with him going to believe you. then i'm going to believe you now and he does that he doesn't actually kill him. god saves him in that moment.

genesis 15. fast forward 30 years, was the completion of that action.

in fact, this is why james says it this way. he says you see that his faith is in verse 22 and his actions were working together for their in cooperation not in competition and his faith was made complete by what he did its easy to talk a good talk.

it's easy to set yourself to just go i yeah i believe all these sort of things were called to walk the walk. there was one of the famous examples when you may have heard of it. when we talk on faith is is a tight rope walker back a long time ago. i didn't write down the actual date i think is 1861 when this happened was charles blondin. he is a famous type rope walker became a world renowned and the e began doing tight rope walks over niagara falls it is 1100 feet across at 260 foot drop and he did the 17 different times and he did all these different you know shenanigans on it. i mean you can go and read what he did is an incredible at one point he is walking on stilts. another point he had his manager on his back, walking across on one particular time. he's got a wheel barrel and is going back and forth across niagara falls and the crowd it is just cheering. some people estimate there's up to hundred thousand people would come out to watch these acts and the couches cheer and any ghosts.

do you does anybody believe that i could take a man across his across your yeah yeah yeah who wants to volunteer crowd got silence see it's one thing to believe in the ability of someone. it's another thing to get in the wheelbarrow following jesus means getting into the wheelbarrow and saying you have my whole life and you get a steer and lead at that his faith.

i trust you. i trust that you will work for me is final and complete in your words from the arch crew and trustworthy wise important in your behavior reveals what you truly believe action is the completion not the competition of faith that is going to gonna say faith without action is like body without the breath, and what i love is he gives to illustrations he give abraham and then he goes and gives rahab.

now she was a part of the enemy of israel at that point she was a woman. she was a prostitute and james elevates quote the wrong person who activated her face to unpack. this force would notice what he says in the same way, was not even rahab the prostitute considered righteous for rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction. you can pick up the story. if you want to unpack that mourn joshua chapter 2 as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without action or without deeds is dead faith without action is like a body without breath c is not enough just to feel bad about something to feeling bad isn't the same thing as doing good that the same time we have to get asking russell to god, what would you have me to do. let me give you a few things pray.

prayer is an act of faith. wherever prayer focus is the power of god falls that we would pray that that that you would take time to learn and to listen to dive in. maybe for some you go out.

i want to help bring educate my kids and begin to talk about that with our family. maybe it's going and just encouraging people make is is is more than just posting. by the way, for some you may feel strongly, like me, were ago i could head out going to go out and and and take a stand in a visible way and protest peacefully, but faith without action is like a body without breath social restoration demands that followers of jesus put their faith into action. social restoration demands that followers of jesus put their faith into action affect the way jesus said it this way. he says in the same way, let your light shine before men, that they see your good deeds, your good works, your faith and action, that they may glorify your father in heaven like the way we live out our lives the way we love the way we shine the light in the grace and the truth and the justice of jesus assess is to point to the heavenly father or they go while you are great you know so much of our love and today comes with strings attached. i'm gonna love you, but i expect something else to come from you.

in fact, i was even how delmar when we first started this with them, and rightfully so, you get this their little suspicions are like why are you doing these nice things for us and like hey like the first couple years like we don't really know if we trust you and were not so sure and totally get that. 07 i love you just the way we think jesus and so we've done things like delmar surveys were redone beautified the campus at every friday we drop off coffee and donuts for the teachers and at the end of every semester we throw a party for the teachers ring at a taco truck and we just blast and serve them is so fun because we hang out together and we get that, you know, make an incredible environment just to say when we so love you redone that time and time and time and time again eight years of this, one of our team members had this great idea because with covert, we weren't able to do the for lunch at the end. i said well what if we sent them like chipotle gift cards and just and cinnamon cringing up from awakening. that's a fantastic idea.

since we can't gathering since we can't honor you and has been such a crazy year. we still want to love you even though were not with you. why just simply because that's what jesus would do. so we did and then i got this email. i just have to read it to you. this comes from one of the faculty at delmar i say hello and thanks for the gift card thanks as well for all the help you've provided you provide to our community of students and families. i was just emailing with courtney trying to express to her how amazing I think your organization is and notice system balancing that with the balancing that with the really hard time.

i have an understanding some of your core religious beliefs and then in parentheses and i guess my own baggage i carry in terms of understanding of the christian church. the fact of the matter is, your deeds are inspirational and the love behind them is evident in strongly felt oh church that we would be a people everywhere we go that are light would so shine before others that they would look at our lives. they would look at how we love and i got i am not so sure about what you believe but i cannot deny how you love glorify social restoration hands. the followers of jesus put their faith. social action faith that one thing on the edge and chips with us to talk about the message but in case you joint is a little late or guest teacher. today was ryan ingram with his message social action, social restoration is complicated, even with the best of intentions, well-meaning people get themselves into trouble.

so how do we make a difference and bring light not heat leaves messages from ryan ingram bring a lot of clarity to the question. he looks at our current circumstances with the gospel vision of community, and provides biblical solutions for limited time, resources for social restoration are discounted and the mp3s are always free to order your copy or to send it to a friend visit us online at http://livingontheedge.org for additional information.

Just give us a call at AAA 83336003 chip great teaching from Ryan today. I know you want to talk about it before you do that.could you take just a minute and talk about the increasing pressure. Christians are facing.

I mean you're in contact with a lot of people. What you see happening. I think as Christians we see to responses neither of which is going to bring about long-term positive change and one is a combativeness and anger, a sort of the culture is the enemy and the other is what I call and set up in combat. We capitulate and so go with the flow meter whom I to judge. Let's just all be loving, and so the one has truth with no grace and the other has grace with no truth is Living on the Edge. We spent the last 20 years developing resources whether the audio books are teaching your CDs or or my favorite small-group material to help people live out truth and grace and we had very generous people.

Partner with us to create all those resources to pay for air time to hire staff. We are living in a day where if Christians do not live like Christians and refused to attack but are strong and winsome and loving and emphatically treat people radically, lovingly, the way Jesus did, and yet not compromise the truth we will see America go right down the tubes and so there's never been a day when we need to do more and we can't do more without the prayers and the financial support of our Living on the Edge, partners, and so if you've never given to Living on the Edge. Let me tell you now is a wonderful wonderful time will be true to Scripture we truly equip people to live out both grace and truth in the power of the Holy Spirit. So thank you for those of you that support us. Please continue to do so. And for those of you that have not. I would highly encourage you get on board today we can make a difference together with that mission resonates with you.

We'd love to have you join us. Helping Christians find the balance between truth and grace and the boldness to speak up and love will change the world we live in send a gift to support the ministry of Living on the Edge just go to LivingontheEdge.org Donate on the app or give us a call at AAA to 333-6003 that's triple late. 333-6003. Thanks in advance for following God's lead. Well I don't know about you but the note that Ryan shared there at the end of the teaching really encourage me back. I've had a chance to watch this over the years as they actually planted and watching the church about eight years ago and they did it in a public school and you know they've developed all the ways you have to do it in a school but they have this line is really been interesting from day one. They said this is not a place that we meet.

This is the place that we love. And so every Friday for eight years. They've taken something to the teachers every Friday. It's a underprivileged area so that the children are poor and so when Colin hit, I mean the kids didn't have breakfast. Some didn't have lunch and I paused. I mean, you know. Here curator world where people can gather in church. Churches are very concerned that were not even going to be able to have enough income to meet the needs of our church and hear this church that you know something we can we can't go to them in the same way, but we have to love them and you heard the story of how they took you to Tripoli cards and figured out how to get food to the kids all throughout the area and this was a response of one of the teachers I'm writing to express all capitals.

How amazing I think your organization is and balancing that with the really hard time. I have an understanding some of your core religious beliefs and in the parentheses. He or she says and I guess my own baggage I carry in terms of understanding the Christian church. The fact of the matter is, your deeds are inspirational and the love behind them is evident and strongly felt in other words, the translation here. I not only don't believe what you believe. I've got a pretty negative view of Christians in general. I've got my own baggage and you're the kind of people that you know when we all say things in general about a group that we don't know very well. This is someone saying how I would probably have very, very negative views of you all, but I can't deny your love. It's inspiring these kids are getting loved each week when you come and bring in a doughnuts and coffee and and supplies to the teachers and you haven't done it a couple times and it wasn't just a little program you have loved us what's happening is love never fails so powerful and so what I want to ask you because the goal of my little time as I get to partner with my sons teaching is not just that we understand it, it's that we apply it. Who can you help today. Who can you serve. I mean a specific person ensure it can start in your house and you could be in your neighborhood could be at work. I understand with all the restrictions we have. It might be more challenging. Or maybe with all these restrictions there's greater opportunity than ever before. What need, could you meet. Could you just sit quietly at this moment say Lord bring someone to my mind that has a need that needs to be loved, Christian or non-Christian Republican or Democrat, libertarian, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, Almighty God, would you just bring someone to my mind that has a need today that without fanfare without a big preaching message. I'm going to meet the need. I'm just going to love them. Love never fails. Can you imagine there's over a million of us hanging out together right now as I'm speaking what each one of us this day met one need of one person in the name of Jesus. The ripples would be amazing.

Let's do it. You know an easy way to share chips messages is with the chipping remap with just a couple of taps any message you choose is on its way to your friend, someone in your family or on social media to help others who could benefit from the truth of Scripture and its encouragement. And don't forget to include a quick note about how it made a difference in your life will I hope you'll be with us again next time. Till then this saying thanks for listening. this Edition of Living on the Edge