Providential Relationships

September 8, 2015

Five Things God Uses to Grow Our Faith – # 2 Providential Relationships

This morning, we are in the second part of the series called “Five Things God Uses to Grow our Faith”. If you were not here last week, you really, really, missed a great sermon. If you missed last week: you can pick up a cd in the lobby or go to our website and listen to it online.

If you missed last week, here is what we were talking about…. Everyone in this room wants to grow in their relationship with God. We all want to feel closer to God. We want to know him in a deeper way. Yet, many of us don’t know how to grow in our relationship with God?

September 6, 2015
Providential Relationships
Pastor David Pranga, Brewster Baptist Church

Audio only[powerpress]

Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to talk with many people about their faith. These five things keep popping up, in helping them grow, their faith and feel closer to God.

The Five Things God Uses to Grow Our Faith: Practical Biblical Teaching, Providential Relationships, Personal Ministry, Private Spiritual Disciplines, and Pivotal Circumstances. These five things God uses over and over again.

Last week we tackled the first one, Practical Biblical Teaching. God uses the Bible to teach us about Him and how we are to live. God’s Word is filled with application for our life. God’s word has meaning to our life when we are dealing with marriage, finances, work, relationships, social justice, and even love.

Last week, we talked about the parable of the foolish man and the wise man.

Foolish man: Hears the teaching, does not do it = Fool
Wise man: Hears the teaching, does it = Obedience
Wise man built his house on the Rock = Jesus Christ….(Bible)

Our challenge last week was simply: Find your bible, pull it off your shelf, and read it….We were supposed to read 1 chapter every day. Many of you took the challenge. I was surprised how emails or conversations I had with people last week asking the simple question – what book would you start with? I simply said if you want a story start with the book of Daniel or 1 Samuel. If you want a practical book – start with James or Ephesians.

Today, I want to talk with you about “Providential Relationships”. And to get started, I need your help. Last week, it was raising of hands. You mastered it. Today, I want you to answer a question on a piece of paper or the back of your bulletin. Grab a pencil or a pen for this exercise.

I want you to write the name of someone that you feel like God used to grow your faith?

Here’s the thing, if at all possible, I don’t want you to write a family member. If you need to that is fine, but try not to. I want you to think of a person who spent time with you, maybe you watched his or her life – but as a result of that person you felt like your faith in God got grew, it got bigger.

For some of you that question may be a hard one. Let’s be honest, you are here because you’re forced to be here by your parents, spouse, or a friend who invited you.

You may have come in this morning and think these people are crazy. I actually get it. I have a different question for you then, so you can play along with us.

Who in your life have you had a relationship with, that God used to provoke your interest in faith, or to re-examine your faith, or to give God a chance in your life?

I understand you’re not there yet with this faith thing. Let me ask you, do know someone that may have made you interested in your faith. It could be the person that brought you today or a friend that you have been watching that may make you interested in re-examining your faith. There might be a person in your life that you say to yourself, there is a chance I would give God a possibility because of this person.

Here is the moment of truth. We have two different questions, two different groups of people. I want you to write a name to answer one of these questions. All you have to write is the person and why? How has this person grown your faith? Or What is causing you to explore your faith?

Since, I put you on the spot with these questions, I will share with you about two people who God used in my life to grow and strengthen my relationship with Him.

Last week, I talked about when God came alive for me. I was in college. I was invited to attend a bible study and I had no idea why I agreed to go. I went and there was a group of guys who studied the bible, that were passionate about their faith. One of these guys from the group was named Michael.

Michael was a college senior, he was an English Literature major. He loved to read. He was passionate about the Bible. He loved his church. He helped the needy, poor, and disadvantaged. Michael was a senior and I was freshman. I really had nothing in common with him. But Michael cared about me as a person.

Here is the thing, as I looked back at my faith journey and how my faith grew the most, He played one of the most instrumental parts in my faith. How??? It was Michael’s initiative to have a relationship with me. Here’s what Michael did for my faith.

We would have breakfast together once a week where Michael, who loved to talk, shared about his life. Michael shared with me about what God was teaching him through the Bible. Michael shared with me about his prayer life and how he journaled. Michael just opened up and shared his life with me. Every part of his life. Michael, was as transparent as a person can be. He shared the good times, but also the difficult battles and temptations that he struggled with.

Let me tell you a secret about our meetings together. Michael, did 90% of the talking. Michael would ask me questions, but for the most part I had very little to say. This was all new to me. I did not grow up reading the bible or talking about my faith.

Yet, I learned so very much about being a Christian. I learned what it meant to really walk with God and to follow Him daily.

The second guy, I want to talk about is a guy named Dan. I could not tell you exactly how Dan and I met. Dan, had a larger than life personality. You just wanted to hang out with this guy. He made everything exciting. He was adventuress, competitive, smart, a practical joker, and he played on the college volleyball team.

Dan, was a Christian who just plain out loved God. Dan, came from a large church in the Chicago area named Willow Creek. The largest church I was ever in was 100 people on a good Sunday. Talk about large, his high school youth group in this church was over 1,500 people.

I cannot tell you how we first met but we became friends very fast. It was one of those friendships that you hit it off right away. My faith was growing… Dan’s faith was growing… We constantly challenged each other in everything. From playing cards, to sports, and to our relationship with God. Our friendship just grew. Dan, would share what God was teaching him. I would share with him about what God was teaching me. Those four years, I can say that my relationship with God grew because I had a friend that poured his life into me.

There’s a verse in the Bible from Proverbs 27:17 that summed up our relationship,

“As Iron Sharpens Iron, So one person sharpens another.”

Throughout our friendship we continued to improve each other. We tried to help each other. God was teaching us new things, every step of the way. Over the course of the next four years, my life and my faith continued to grow, deepen, and blossom.

When I look back on those two relationships and many more through my life, I can easily associate them with the word “providential”. I truly believe that God intersected our two lives together. From my perspective looking back, it was as if God allowed those two individuals to intersect my life at a key critical juncture.

What I want to make clear is this: I had a part to play in each of these relationships. It was not like God forced His way into my life. But looking back, I chose to play a part in these relationships. I choose to be open and meet with my friend Michael. I could have told him that I was busy for breakfast. I could have told my friend Dan that spiritual things were off the table. They are private. I chose to be open.

God had a part to play in these relationships as well. God brought people into my life to help me take the next step in my relationship with Him. God knew what I needed, and at just the right time He provided a relationship. That is the reason why I used the word “providential relationships”. God uses “providential relationships” to grow our faith. He brings people in our lives to help grow us in our relationship with Him.

Here’s the thing about Christianity. God never intended for us to do it alone. Whenever you hear a faith story, it always involves other people. God uses people to help us through the next steps in our faith. God uses people to help us grow closer to Him.

When people share their faith stories…They start out by saying it was this friend that believed in them, it was a youth leader who continued to call; it was a teacher at school that shared their faith in God that was transforming. It was a supervisor or boss that spent time and shared about not so good times they went through, but God was there for them. I really believe that God uses these “Providential Relationships” in our lives all the time.

The question we may need to ask ourselves is this: Are we open? Are we open to these relationships? Are we open to these faith relationships that can have huge impact into our lives?

This morning, I want to share with you a video of two people from our congregation. Steve, is just an ordinary guy who was going through a difficult time in his life. He sought out a church for help. He joined a bible study. He then met up with John looking for help. Let’s watch the video…..

I wished that I could have shown you the entire video…but for time purposes we had to cut it down. Steve was going through a difficult time and John was there for him. John was there to help him in his faith and his life. John shared how he went through a difficult time in his life as well. John and Steve have studied the bible, prayed together, and have shared life together. . I believe this is another example of “providential relationships”.

When people tell their faith story; about how they grow in their faith, you will hear about relationships. You will always hear about how a person helped them to get over a hump. It may have been one conversation. Just the right person came along and had one conversation, then their life was changed.

For other people, it’s a series of conversations. And for some of us it was not something that was said, it was seeing the person’s life. I had people share with me, I just simply watched this person’s life. I watched their marriage. I saw them prioritize their family. I saw them act at work in a Christian way. They did the right thing even if it was not popular. They just did the right thing.

Here is the key point today from this message; it’s simply this – God uses human relationships to impact our faith in Him. God uses human relationships to grow our faith, to blow up our faith, or to impact our faith and draw us closer to Him. That is the main message. God uses relationships to grow our faith.

I have talked about the good things about relationships. Let me tell you about the not so cool part of relationships. The opposite is also true. This principle also works both ways. I could have started this sermon by asking you this question:

“Has there been anyone in your life that undermined your faith in God?” Are there relationships in your past that have taken the legs out from underneath your faith in God?

As a result you believe less about God. As a result you found yourself further from God. Could it be that a relationship with someone did enough damage that you could not see yourself ever trusting God? In fact, your greatest regret could be traced back to a conversation or person or even a group of people that hurt your impression of God.

1 Corinthians 15:33 gives us a warning to watch out for…

“Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character”

Relationships can bring us up. Relationships can also bring us down. I can remember my parents always telling me, the people you hang out with, is the person you will become. I can now see that to be true. I can see through my experience that the people we spend our time with, the people we hang out with, the people we interact with, are the same people we will become.

When I look back at my deepest regret, at my deepest hurt in life, it deals with isolation. It is during the times where I isolate myself from relationships. I was either afraid of starting a new relationship with people or because I was hurt so deeply in a relationship, I shut people out. It was during those times that I did the most damage to myself. It was during those times where my relationship with God fell off the tracks.

Relationships are very powerful things. They can be used for good; growing our faith. They can also be used in not such a good way. The wrong kind of relationships or even isolation have the potential to undermine our faith.

Here is the challenge everyone must walk through. What are we going to do with these relationships? Every person you come in contact with; in some way can erode your faith in God or build it up. Every day, you have a choice to make dealing with relationships.

Let me encourage you this morning, God wants you to grow in your relationship with Him. I really believe that God brings people in our life, God brings people in our life to help us grow our faith. God uses relationships to impact and to grow our faith.

Another Bible passage I want to share is Proverbs 13:20 it says,

“Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.”

Whether you’re a Christian or a religious person or even a non-religious person, I typically think you would agree with this verse from the Bible. That a person who walks with the wise becomes wise, and the companion of a fool suffers harm. The person you spend time with is the person you become.

I have seen this in my life. In my last church, I got to know these runners. They ran 5K races all the way up to marathons. It did not take long before they asked me to run with them. Then in a few months, I was competing and doing similar races that they were doing. What happened when I moved to the Cape? My running partners were gone. I quit running. The people we hang out with, influence who we are. Just like the proverbs stated, walk with the wise and become wise.

Let me tell you something from my experience. I have had many people share with me that they can do their faith by themselves. They share with me that they don’t need a group of people to share life with. It is all personal for them.

Yet, when a difficulty comes their way, like we talked about last week, when storms come, if they are all alone, it is tough to get back on their feet again. Yet, when we experience life together, when we invite and allow ourselves to be in the presence of other people, when those storms come, I believe and have seen God use relationships to help us out. It is through relationships that our faith has grown.

This morning, we have talked about “providential relationships” and how God can use them for good. We have a part to play. We have to be open to having a relationship with the people that God brings our way. I want to challenge some of us this morning with this last point.

Since God uses people to help grow them in relationships, God may be calling you to help someone else in their faith. I know this may sound scary. It may be awkward for some of you. For some of you this may be a paradigm shift. You mean I can actually help someone with their faith?

Who are the people in our life that we can leverage this principle with? Is there someone in our life that as we look around may need some help? I believe we can help create the potential for providential relationship.

First, it starts with prayer. Invite God to be a part of this. Then be open to see who God may bring into your situation. Let me tell you one thing, because I know some of you are thinking this. You are never ready. There will never be a time in your life when you are ready to take this on. It just happens.

Providential relationships often start out with awkward conversations. It is putting yourself out there. It is putting yourself out there whether God does something or not in this person.

If you allow yourself to help another person, you have the ability to create the potential to help another person with their faith. Remember my friend Michael. He probably prayed and asked God to use him. Then Michael kept his eyes open to someone who was willing to learn; someone willing to spend time with him; Someone that was willing to grow in their faith.

I really believe that one way that God can use you and grow your faith is through helping other people in their faith. We watched a video this morning about Steve and John. Steve was helped and grew in his faith. John, by helping Steve also grew in his faith. John, also got a lot out of the relationship. When we help people grow in their faith, it is simply amazing! Our faith grows and deepens as well.

If you talk with small group leaders in this church, one of the reasons why they lead or a small group is that they enjoy when people grow in their faith. They will tell you about how they saw someone grow from asking a lot of questions about God to becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. We have youth leaders and children leaders, serving students and children. Why? They love it when the students they are working with take a simple step of faith. They love it when a young person talks about their love for God.

For some of us here this morning, we have to leverage our faith and help people grow in their walk with God. We need to be intentional and put ourselves in environments to help people. We need to be open and willing to go along side someone and build a relationship with them, to see if God may be using us to build a providential relationship with someone.

That’s why this church has a lot of groups. We want to see people grow in their faith. If you are a couple or a single we have small groups that happen on Sundays and almost every night of the week. If you are a student, we have a wonderful student ministry.

If you are a single guy – we have a great men’s bible study. If you are a woman, we have a great women’s bible study. If you’re a parent of children or youth, we have parent groups you can be a part of.

Let’s say you are exploring your faith or new to the faith or just at the beginning stages of your faith. You’re not really sure where to start. We have a brand new group called Starting Point. This is a group that is more conversational style, where people can have conversations and ask questions. I love teaching this group because you get to answer questions, people are too embarrassed to ask in a normal small group. I had a lady who asked me, what is the big 3 and little 3 in the bible mean. Simply chapter and verse. No question is a bad question.

Starting point is a place where you meet people and you interact and you begin relationships with them. It is not a big group. It usually runs 5 to 8 people in a group. Here is what I promise you about Starting Point; your relationship with God will change and grow in this group. You will get to know people in this group. It only lasts 8 sessions, but these 8 sessions are powerful in growing your faith.

This week and next week, you can sign up to be part of a small group experience. There will be a table in the foyer area where you can sign up to be part of “Starting Point” or a Small Group. If you have any questions, ask them and they will help you.

We have to close things up. This series is about helping you grow in your faith. Here is the challenge for this week: