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What if we had absolute confidence in God no matter what? What if we no longer feared our circumstances and viewed the world as something that we could trust God with completely? What would our lives be like then? Can you imagine? If we don't have this kind of faith, it can be irritating when we run into someone who does have this faith! We look at those kinds of people and say to ourselves, "I wish I was as ignorant as you, but I am intelligent and I see the problems clearly of this world." Andy Stanley, at http://www.northpoint.org/home, continues his series, "Five Things God Uses to Grow Your Faith", by pointing out that the story of the Old Testament is a story of man's loss of trust in God. God reestablishes his trust of the world by sending His son in the New Testament. So, God often works in our lives by commanding in us BIG FAITH. Andy says that, after observing the Christian walk of many people who have come to have "big faith", these people usually display experience in 5 distinct areas: 1) Practical Teaching 2) Providential Relationships 3) Personal Discipline 4) Pivotal Circumstances and 5) Personal Ministry. Practical Teaching is what Andy is covering in this message. When most people first come to faith, they usually have heard people who have experienced the the Word in there lives. It's a point where God moves from their head to their heart. Jesus taught to applicatioin, not simply to knowledge. In Matthew 7:24, Jesus had just finished his "To-Do" list when delivering the Sermon on the Mount. This sermon was Jesus saying if you had perfect faith in God, here is what you would do: Go two miles if someone asks you for one, forgive those who affend you, lust and sin in the mind is sin (brand new news in that culture), give as much as you can especially when you see someone in need. Jesus was, quite specifically, talking to those who were already followers of God. He was saying that, if we want to see God enter our world, we have to DO these things. In our culture, we often rate our spirituality depending on how many times we go to church. But Jesus is showing us how to live it out. Andy says that when you run into these people of BIG FAITH, they have found the value of DOING God's principles and His guidance. It's a matter of seeing God work in their lives. It's kind of like reading the books on nutrition and physical fitness, but then never applying them in our lives. Someone could conceivably be an "expert" in those areas, but completely neglect themselves by not following workouts or diets!! Some of us were raised in an environment that was so "to do" oriented, which wasn't the core of our faith, but at least it taught us HOW to live as Christians should we decide to act on our faith. Often, people will come to Northpoint Community Church and tell Andy that they didn't even feel like they were in church because their experience with church in the past was comfortable and cozy. But Andy says that when anybody opens the Bible and reads it, it's anything BUT comfortable and cozy. When Jesus preached, he was often then threatened to be stoned afterwards. It was exciting, not "comfortable"! Andy says that, when he is speaking on these principles, his standard is Jesus. It's naturally offensive because it flies in the face of culture and it puts the onus on the people to DO. Good Sermon, Andy.