Dear BCA Family,

Did you know that God wants to do great things in your life? What are you expecting from Him? I don’t know all of your circumstances, but I know that He is doing what you expect Him to do... nothing more, and nothing less. God says, "Expect me to do great things!" Remember, where God guides, He provides. He has a great plan for you, and through it all He wants to build your faith. As Jesus said in Matthew 9:29, "According to your faith it will be done to you." Faith is like a muscle that can be developed and stretched as it grows. God uses a very clear, precise, predictable process in building our faith. Our new sermon series, Faith Factor, gives you 6 FACTORS GOD USES TO BUILD YOUR FAITH.

FACTOR #1—DREAM
When God wants to work in your life, the first thing He does is to give you a dream. Some of you are at this stage; you need a dream or have one burning in your heart. You may wonder if your dream is from God. If it is, it’s so big that it will require faith. Eph. 3:20(LB)—…God is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes. If you could do it on your own, then you wouldn’t need faith! God will give you a big dream that requires you to step out of your comfort zone and rely on Him in a big way. You may think that He never speaks to you, but He does! He speaks to your heart through Scripture, through ideas or creative thoughts you don’t recognize as your own, and confirmation through godly friends and counselors. If this is where you are, get ready for an adventure! Make the rest of your life the best of your life.

FACTOR #2—DECISION
You have to decide what you are going to do with the dream God gives you. Are you going to go for it, lay it on the line, and take the risk? The dream is worthless until you wake up and do something about it. Decision-making is a faith activity. Decide to act! James 1:6 & 8 (GN)—You must believe and not doubt…a double-minded man is unstable in all he does. James is talking about decision-making here. He’s saying that faith is a verb; it’s active, it is not passive. It is something that you do. When you make the decision to invest your time, money, reputation, and life based on the dream God has given you, you are taking the second step of faith.

You must also decide to let go of your security. A trapeze artist who swings out on one handle bar must then decide whether he’s going to grab the other one. There is a split second where he can’t hold on to this one and grab that one at the same time. He has to let go of the familiar in order to grab the unknown. In that split second, nothing at all is holding that guy up. If he wavers in that moment of decision…if he does not go for it and grab the next bar …what will happen? He swings out and back, out and back, out and back, and eventually stops. And there is only one way out…down. You’ve got to make the decision!

There are a lot of dreamers in the world. For every 10 dreamers, there is probably only one decision-maker who goes for it. Abraham left his homeland to go to an unknown destination. Moses left being second in line for the throne in Egypt to lead a bunch of slaves. Nehemiah left a very comfortable job in Persia to go build a wall around Jerusalem. What about you? What are you holding on to? You have to let go to move on with the dream. If you want to walk on water, you‘ve got to get out of the boat. When you receive the dream, make the decision to take the risk required to fulfill it.

FACTOR #3—DELAY
There is always a delay when God wants to work in your life. A lot of people get caught here, but it is just another part of building your faith. God is working on you as much as He is working on your dream; He wants to build disciples, not just dreams. He will not automatically answer your dream; there will be a time lapse. Habakkuk 2:3a(LB)—God says…but these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. Did you notice the word "slowly"? Waiting is a part of life and we all hate it. We hate to wait in traffic, in line, at the doctor’s office, for Christmas presents, and for everything else! Being in God’s waiting room is not a whole lot of fun.

But every believer throughout history eventually has to graduate from the University of Learning to Wait. Here are some Biblical examples:

• Noah had to wait 120 years from the point he started building the Ark until it began to rain.
• Abraham had to wait until he was 99 years old to have a son/heir.
• Moses had to wait 40 years in the desert before leading the Israelites from captivity…then they had to wait 40 more years in the desert before entering the Promised Land.
• Joseph waited years in prison before he was made a ruler in Egypt.
• David was anointed by Samuel but had to wait years before he became king.
• Jesus waited 30 years in a carpenter’s shop before he had 3 years of ministry.

What makes us think we are going to be any different? When God is at work in your life, He gives you a dream, you make the decision, and then you go into delay. Why? Because God wants to teach you to trust Him. We learn to trust Him through the delay period…through waiting. Delays never destroy God’s purposes for your life; they are part of God’s purpose for your life. So don’t get uptight…it’s planned. Don’t doubt…let God work during the season of delay. A mature Christian will understand that delay is not a denial, and that there is a difference between "not yet" and "no".

FACTOR #4—DIFFICULTY
Not only do you get to wait, but you also get lots of problems while you wait. That’s all part of God’s plan. We see it all through the Scriptures. Joseph had a literal dream of being a great leader, and what happened next? He was betrayed by his brothers, thrown into a pit to die, sold into slavery, taken to a foreign country, falsely accused of rape, and put in prison. Probably not the business plan that he had in mind; but God was faithful and His purposes for Joseph’s life were evident when Joseph’s position of leadership in Egypt sheltered the Israelites during the great famine.

Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt across the Red Sea. They moved into the wilderness for 40 years of delay, and a lot of difficulties during the delay. God had to provide water and food for them for 40 years, but a more dependent nation of Israelites made it to the Promised Land. David was anointed king, and then had delays and difficulties before that promise was fulfilled. He was hunted by Saul, had to hide in caves, and even had to act like he was insane at one point to escape. God allows difficulties as a faith-building process. I Peter 1:6-7(Ph)—At the present you may be temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials. This is not an accident—it happens to prove your faith, which is infinitely more valuable than gold.

#5—DEAD-END
And if that is not enough, after delay and difficulty comes the dead-end. Some of you are here—at the end of your rope, seeing no way out, and feeling hopeless. The dead-end factor is where God allows things to deteriorate. The problem moves from difficulty to impossibility. You may feel like your options are exhausted; you have no alternatives, so why try. If so, I want to say to you, "Congratulations!" You’re in good company. Paul was probably the greatest Christian who ever lived (next to the Lord Jesus), and Paul had a lot of dead-ends. 2 Cor. 1:8,9(Ph)—At that time we were completely overwhelmed, the burden was more than we could bear, in fact we told ourselves that this was the end. Yet we now believe that we had this sense of impending disaster so that we might learn to trust, not in ourselves, but in God who can raise the dead!

Paul says that God can raise the dead. And if God can raise the physical dead, He can raise a dead marriage, career, or grade-point average. We come to dead end so that we know we can’t do it on our own, and we must put our trust in God to do it. God specializes in resurrections. He often lets our problems get worse until they become impossibilities…because when He solves them, He gets more glory.

Some of you have received a dream from God. You made the decision in faith, you prayed about it, decided that God wanted you to do it, and stepped out in faith. Then along came delays, difficulties, and dead-ends! Maybe you are at a dead-end right now, and you’re second-guessing yourself. You’re being double-minded, and saying, "Maybe I missed something here." I want to tell you right now…you are exactly where God wants you to be. Dead-ends are a part of God’s plan for your life…because when you get to that position, you are primed and prepared for stage 6: deliverance!

#6—DELIVERANCE
God moves in, He does a miracle, and supernaturally fulfills a dream so He gets the credit. Paul says, "He has delivered us…and he will deliver us" (2 Cor. 1:10). Now this is where it gets exciting! God provided the ram for Abraham, and Isaac didn’t have to be sacrificed. Joseph’s dreams came true. The Red Sea split and the Israelites walked across. Jesus was crucified, but was resurrected three days later. God loves to turn crucifixion into resurrections…in your life as well! Our impossibilities are simply God’s opportunities to show His greatness. So what’s the best response to a dead-end? Ps. 27:13(GN)—I am expecting the Lord to rescue me again, so that once again I will see his goodness to me.

This Sunday, we will focus on Factor #1 -- Understand God's Dream for Your Life. It is imperative that you know where you are going, and why you are on this earth. Jeremiah 29:11—For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future! God gave you spiritual gifts, desires, abilities, and experiences as indicators of where He wants to take your life and how He wants to use you to bless others. Join us to learn more about this vital area, and find fulfillment in the plan God has for you.

Blessings,

Pastor Rob