[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, thanks so much for listening to this message. My name is Jason and I'm one of the ministers here at the Madison Church of Christ. It's our hope and prayer that the teaching you hear today will bless your life and draw you closer to God. If you're ever in the Madison area, we'd love for you to stop by and study the Bible with us on Sundays at 05:00 p.m. Or Wednesdays at 07:00 p.m. If you have questions about the Bible or want to know more about the Madison church, you can find us
[email protected] dot. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast as well as our Sermons podcast Madison Church of Christ sermons thanks again for stopping by. I hope this study is a blessing to you.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: It's so good to have you all here with us at Madison. And if you are a guest here with us tonight, we want to say welcome. We are glad that you're here tonight on Wednesday nights. Well, throughout the rest of the summer, we are doing our summer series. And our summer series, we have different speakers that come here every Wednesday night, most of which who are from our area. And tonight we're continuing that summer series. And the topic that we've been dealing with is spiritual resiliency. And we have with us tonight Dwayne Tapscott. Duane is actually the preacher at two different churches. He preaches at 08:00 in the morning in Huntsville, isn't that right? And then 11:00 in Winfield. I don't know how he does that, but he does that. So. And he has four. His wife is here with him tonight as well. He graduated from Athens State and heritage and he just finished and defended his dissertation, isn't that right? So I appreciate too, the great work he does at heritage. I've had the opportunity to get hear him speak before. He does a fantastic job. I just love how he sees God's word and shares God's word and can't wait to hear you speak tonight.
[00:01:53] Speaker C: Beloved. It's good to be here on tonight. It's good to be here on tonight just to study another portion of God's book, the Bible. I want to thank your fine leadership. I want to thank Julie. She sent me an email. This is my first time here at Madison Church of Christ.
It's great to be here on tonight. I want to thank you for that preacher, Andrew Brandon, and all the leadership for trusting in me. I said to myself, man, these guys have never heard me preach. They are very brave.
But nevertheless, we're here and we're just gonna expound upon the word. The topic that was given to me when Julie actually sent it to me was shallow faith hinders resilience. Shallow faith hinders resilience. So first of all, we bring you greetings from the southwest church of Christ here in Huntsville to mission work on Drake Avenue. We bring you greetings from the Piney Grove Church of Christ there in Winfield. I do an 08:00 service every Sunday morning. I leave at nine. I drive 2 hours to Winfield. Been doing that for the last 13 years. And then we also bring you greetings from Heritage Christian University, where I go and I recruit preachers and teachers to teach the word of God. Open with me in your bibles to PsalmS chapter one.
Thank God that my wife is here. And we have some of our people here from southwest psalms, chapter one. You actually can quote it.
Very familiar passage in the Bible. David says the Bible. The psalmist says, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of the sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the sCornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither. And whatsoever he doeth, the Bible says he shall prosper. But verse number four, the ungodly are not so, but are like the shaft which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor the sinners in the congregation of the righteousness. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous. But the way of the ungodly, the Bible says, shall perish. So we want to talk briefly this afternoon. Shallow faith hinders resilience. I think I want to get at my lesson this way. Many years ago, years ago, my family and another family, because it was the summertime, it was very hot, we ended up going to the aquatic center. My family and this other family, we got into the pool and we were trying to have a good time. That was in the very beginning. But then after a while, other people started getting in the pool. And when people started getting in the swimming pool, it created a ripple effect. Well, while we was in the pool, water did what water does. The water was slapping us in our face. Then there was one lady that was with us because the water kept getting in her face. She said, brother tap, sister, tap. I'm drowning.
Help. I'm drowning. And then I said, sis, stand up.
You're only in three foot of water.
And so then after a while, so we stood up. We was in that shallow water for 1015 minutes. Then Sister Tep had a bright idea. She said, you know what? I'm getting out. We need to get out of this shallow water because we are in the little baby's way. The little babies are trying to have a good time. And here we are. We're grown, we're big, we are in their way. She says, I'm going over in the deep end. And so then we looked over. Everybody in the deep water was having a good time.
They was able to get their front stroke on in the deep water. In the shallow water. We couldn't do that over in the deep end. They were getting their backstroke on.
We couldn't do that in the shallow water. They were in the deep water.
We couldn't do that in the shallow water.
They had a diving board. They jumped off it and went down and bubbled in the deep water. And let me advise you, you can't jump off a diving board in shallow water so soon. I said, you know, what's the tap? That's a great idea. Cause she went in the deep water. I ended up following her in the deep water. The lady who couldn't swim, she got like an average beginner. She started, she was hanging on the wall, and she got into the. To the five foot of water. Well, even though she got there. The good news is, once she discovered a floating device that would keep her afloat, she discovered a floating device that would keep her afloat. And she enjoyed the water. Once she discovered the floating device. Well, I stopped out here tonight just to tell you that God gives us a floating device, and his floating device is called faith. The Bible says, in two corinthians, chapter five and verse number seven, for we walk by faith and not by sight. Romans, chapter four and verse number 17, the Bible says, calling those things that be not as though they were. So when the Bible says, we walk by faith and not by sight, if you are not walking by faith, then you are not walking at all. Many times we say we have faith, but we don't walk by faith. And if you don't walk by faith, then according to God, you. You are not walking at all. So what is faith? What is this floating device? I'm glad you all asked the right question. Faith. F a I t h. Here's my floating device. When my back is up against the wall, when I don't know how I'm going to make it here is my faith. I'm forwarding all issues toward heaven. That's my floating device for faith. F a I t h. Forwarding all issues toward heaven. When you are sick, when you are discouraged, when you are depressed, when you don't know how you are going to make it. I am forwarding all of my issues toward heaven. I love that. What else can I do with faith? Forsaking all, I trust him. That's the other acronym for Faith. Forsaking all, I trust him. So let me share tonight. You will never enjoy life as God has intended for you to enjoy until you launch out into the deep. You remember what Jesus said in Luke chapter five, verse number one through verse number eleven? He told those men, listen, I need you to launch out into the deep. The Bible says when they launched their boat out, they started catching so much fish, so much stuff, until their nets started breaking. And when their nets started breaking, they started calling all of their other friends. Come over and help us out. In other words, God wants you to be so blessed, he wants you to enjoy your life until you call other people. Come over and enjoy the blessings that God give unto me. So let's look here. When you look at shallow faith. When you look at shallow faith.
Shallow faith. Shallow faith. Shallow faith. What is shallow faith? Definition for shallow faith? Well, I'll tell you what it is. It is faith that is not very deep at all.
If you have shallow faith, that's the definition. It is faith that is not deep at all. A lot of times people tell me, bro, preacher, I have faith. That's not the issue. The question is how deep is your faith? Do you have shallow faith? I like what the Bible says in Matthew chapter eight. Think this is what I want. Matthew chapter eight and verse number 26, Jesus said unto the disciples, why are you fearful, o ye of little faith? Sometimes we don't take God. We know that God is God. But when it comes down to certain issues in our life, we have little faith. So notice, if your faith is not deep, then what's hindering it? You remember when Philip was talking to the ethiopian eunuch? The ethiopian eunuch knew that he needed to be baptized. He said, see, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized. So notice when it comes down, when I look at the definition for hinder is something that can damage or delay an action. I don't want to have shallow faith because my shallow faith can bring a hindrance to my life. It can delay the blessings or the actions. That's actually coming from God. Can I tell you tonight that small faith can hurt you?
Jesus, that's good preaching.
Small faith, it can actually hurt you. In other words, if you believe in God and you take your faith off of God, it will hurt you. How many people do we know who have small faith? They have taken their eyes off God. They have taken their faith off God, and as a result, they end up being hurt. So shallow faith is faith that's not deep at all. If I'm hindered, now I'm being hindered. Shallow faith hinders resilience. Something that can damage or delay. But here's the resilience part. We need that resilience because resilience mean the ability to withstand difficulties.
Shallow faith can hinder your resilience. Resilience is the ability to withstand difficulty. Let's put all of that together, and then I'm gonna give you my three things. Let's summarize it. What's the summary definition for shallow faith hinders resilience? Well, it is faith that is not deep will delay actions which hinders the ability to withstand. Y'all, that's so good. I got to say that again.
Faith that is not deep will delay actions which will hinder the ability to withstand. Y'all remember when your friends asked you, I had to put this up there. When your friends asked why there's no diving board on the shallow end of the pool? You just wanna hold your head. Sometimes people ask you, but preacher, why am I not blessed? Why am I not getting ahead in life? Maybe it's because your faith is shallow. Well, I wanna give you three things about your shallow faith, and then the lesson will be yours on tonight. Three things about your shallow faith. Three things about my shallow faith. Number one, shallow relationship with God, shallow relationship with others. It will hinder your godly walk.
You remember what Amos said? Amos said in Amos chapter three and verse number three, can two walk together except or unless they agree? So shallow faith, it will hinder your ministry. Shallow faith will hinder your testimony. Shallow faith will. Will hinder your effectiveness for God.
What makes shallow faith? Well, I tell you what makes shallow faith is the shallowness of studying the word of God. You know, if you have a shallow relationship with your wife, men, you're gonna have some issues at home.
Women, if you have a shallow relationship with your husband, there's going to be some trouble at the camp.
A lot of times we go through life, and our relationship with God is very shallow. Paul, when he talked to his young protege, Timothy, in two, Timothy chapter two and verse number 15. Paul said, look here, this is what I need you to do. I need you to study, to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word.
So, Paul, I need you to study the word of God. I need you to dig deep in the word of God. I need you to know the word of God, because when you know the word of God, you build in a strong relationship with God. So the question you have to ask yourself tonight, is your life producing the deep change that needs to happen in your life? If your faith, if your life is not producing the deep change, then you need to take a look at yourself. Every now and then you have to put blank film in your camera. I like this because sometimes I've learned that shallowness takes away the person's sense of hope. That's why people leave the church. That's why people quit studying the Bible. That's why people don't have a strong relationship with God, because they have that shallow relationship which messes with their sins, hope. So God's word is powerful, but the problem is we don't allow it to take root in our life. Which brings me to this particular problem when it comes down to our shallow faith. Shallow faith produces shallow solutions.
Shallow faith, it produces shallow solutions. Can I tell you? God's word does not change. But the problem is we do. God's word don't change. We do. I'm gonna show you. I remember years ago when my mom and dad, you know, that was years ago when they was married, years ago. I remember as a child, daddy was in the driver's seat and mama used to sit right up under.
Daddy couldn't even drive cause mama was right under.
And then all of a sudden they put a console.
And then daddy said, I didn't move. I'm still in the same place who moved. Well, use that same illustration today. God is the same. Yesterday, today and forever. God doesn't move. But the problem is we move away from God. So sometimes things are not going our way because we want to jump into somebody else's boat. Can I tell you tonight, that is a dangerous thing to jump in somebody else's boat. Just because things work for them that way doesn't mean that it's gonna work for you the same way. God has a plan, he has a route for everybody's life. And nine times out of ten, my life is not orchestrated. The way Andrew's life is, the way Brandon's life is, what God has. For me, it is for me. But notice, I have to make sure that I have a strong relationship with God. So you have to ask yourself, do you live a shallow Christianity? You know, for some of us, and I don't know. I don't know, y'all, this is my first time here, but I've been preaching 29 years for some of us. People don't even know that we are christians.
People don't even know that we go to church by the way we talk, by the way we act, by the way we conduct business.
A lot of times people look at us and say, I didn't know you was a child of God. I didn't know you was a Christian. What they're simply saying is, you are too shallow to be a child of God. So when you look at this particular text, and I'm gonna get back to my psalms. One, one here in a minute, and we'll break it down. But if you're gonna have strong relationship, if you're going to come out of the shallow waters of faith, then you have to build a relationship with God.
You have to ask yourself the question, how good is your relationship with your daddy?
People tell me all the time about preaching. My relationship with daddy is not good. Women. My relationship with daddy is not good. That's the physical daddy. But the question is, how strong is your relationship with your spiritual daddy? So, number one, shallow relationships with God and with others, it'll hinder our godly walk. Y'all a great crowd so far tonight. Great crowd. Great crowd.
The second thing, the second thing that I want to look at is, number two, your faith should be growing in a shallow world. I tell you, we live in a shallow world today. Your faith, my faith, our faith, it has to grow no notice. Shallow. Shallow simply means having no root. No roots that are deep is called rootless. Let me tell you what Jesus said in Matthew, chapter 13, verse number 20, and verse number 21, Jesus said, but he that received the seed into stony places, the same as he that heareth the word and anon with joy, and receive it, yet he hath not root in himself, but dureth for a while. For when tribulation, when persecution arises because of the word, by and by, he is offended. You ever hear people say, but preacher, I'm always offended. I'm offended at what the preacher say. I'm offended at what the secretary say. I'm offended at what the teacher said. But listen, if you know the word of God for yourself and by yourself, you'll understand no weapon that is formed against me shall be able to prosper. That means I have a strong relationship with God. So my faith. I don't care what the world say. I don't care what the White House say. I don't care what the city government say. If I do what God tells me to do. And I'm getting loud, I'm getting excited.
Yeah. Got to do what God tells us.
So, notice, how do I grow in my spiritual life? Well, you grow by, first of all, starting a strong spiritual foundation. Every last one of us that live in a house, can I tell you tonight that if that contractor and if that builder did not lay that foundation right, the walls will start crumbling, the floors will start messing up. Lady friend of ours, she was getting ready to purchase a house. I mean, brand new, brand new house. Nobody have lived in the house, but the foundation was off. Walk the engine, ready to buy. Thank God she was able to get out of cracks all over. Notice the devil is a sharp character. He know that if he can mess up your foundation, he got you for the rest of your life. That's the reason you ought not to listen to folks in the world. That's why you ought not to listen at the Antichrist. That's why you ought not to listen at everybody that come with a different doctrine. Why? Because I have a strong foundation. In order to have a fruitful life, in order to have a joyous life, you have to have a strong foundation.
You know, we read the Bible for conversation.
We read the Bible for conversation. Now, let me tell you, our problem is the wives would tell wives, if your husband did all the talking and he never give you a chance to say something, how would y'all feel?
Y'all probably said, preach. I ain't saying nothing right now. Cause that's what's going on in my house.
Notice we do all the talking to God, but we never listen.
We talk to God at night when we go to bed, and that's good. You ought to talk to him in prayer. You talk to God in the morning. You ought to do that. You ought to talk. We talk to God all day long on our jobs at the house, at the ball gate. We do all of the talking. But when do we ever hear what the word of God says? Well, preacher, how does God talk to us? He talked to us through his word. The Bible says. So. Then romans ten, verse 17. So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We got to get to a point. If I'm going to grow strong, then I have to learn how to get into the word of God so that I can hear what God is saying to me. So you got to make scripture a lifelong study habit and prayer have to be a lifelong occupation. Can I tell y'all that when you look back, some of us older people, we can truly testify on this. My mother, I think, had a fifth grade education.
I don't even know if my daddy had that. But one thing about those older people, they didn't have a lot of education, but they had a whole lot of God. It's bad grammar, but it's good preaching.
They didn't have a lot of education, but they surely had God on their side. Today, we got a lot of education, and we don't have much God on our side. So the question is, if something worked, then. Then why stop? If it worked for mama, if it worked for daddy, if it worked for big mama, if I do what they did, then it'll work for me. They had a strong relationship. So, what's the plan? What's the plan to launch out? Now I'm getting ready to go to my psalms one one. What's the plan to launch out into the deep? Well, I tell you, the plan is, we often function in this world like we're working at a 911 call center.
We attend to what's needed at the moment, and then we're done with the call. That's the 911. Well, you will not transform your mind. You will not transform your life with this type of thinking. Now, let's go back and look at psalms one one. Let me read it to you real once. Psalms one, verse one through three. The writer said, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of the sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law doth he meditate. How often?
Day and night.
Psalms one. If you really look at it, the writer is giving us a picture, and the picture is, do you have a shallow mentor or a deep mentor? I love psalms one one, because, for me, this is deep mentoring. He is a. He is our mentor, and we are a mentee, so he's given us deep revelations. But if you don't dive in and you don't understand it, you'll miss the whole point. So, notice, with that being said, you are only as strong as your strongest mentor.
Let that soak in. You are only as strong as your strongest mentor. If you hang with the thugs, your mind gonna think like a thug. If you hang with the billionaires, your mind gonna think like a birds of a feather.
They flock together.
So notice what's wrong with our society today is instead of us having a deep mentor, instead of us having a shallow mentor, we have volunteer mentors.
Let me tell you what a volunteer. No, no, don't get me wrong. Volunteer mentors, volunteer mentors. When you really think about it, don't get me wrong, volunteer mentors, they're good at time, but they only invest a little energy and a little time.
A volunteer will show you where to go, but they will not really stay there with you to help you get through what you're going through.
That's why it's important in these last days to have deep mentors. And I've gone to so many places where the church is full of shallow volunteers, but not enough deep mentors. Our boys, young boys are struggling. Our young girls are struggling. And then we wonder why they are leaving the church when we're not here. Because y'all got a strong case. We wonder why is because when they look at some of us, when they look at some of our parents, when they look at some of our people, they are not deep enough to help them along the way. People often say, but preacher, but you got to understand, something is better than nothing. That may be the case for you, but I need God's best. That will teach me the best so that I can be at my best. I don't need volunteer who is not really there for me to help me see. I'm looking for God's best who can train me to be my best so that I can help somebody else to be their best.
Let me give you this illustration. When I played basketball one year in college, when I played basketball, I always wanted to guard the best. I was six four, my backup was six five, my backup was 16. But I always wanted to play the best because I didn't get nothing out of somebody who only scored two points. I didn't get nothing out of somebody who couldn't play above the rim when every time we played another team that the best player always wanted to guard. Why? Because the Bible says iron sharpens iron. In order for me to get better, I need somebody's best. In order for them to get better and play at the next level, they had to. So now when it come down to the church, thank God for the Andrews, thank God for the Brandon, because we need somebody who will give us their best so that we can be our best and to God be the glory.
I was talking in ministry in ministry, I talked with preachers who have longevity in the ministry. Talked with an older gentleman, Doctor Barclay. Doctor Barclay is 73, 75. The man has two doctoral degrees. And I says, and he still take classes. I said, doc, why you still taking class out and down in Georgia? Why are you still going to school? Why are you still taking the class? He says, I continue to take a class to keep my mind healthy and to keep my mind strong.
That's, that's deep. That challenged me. You know, when you think that you have arrived and you got the one little degree, the two little degrees, the three little, I don't care how much education you have. I don't care how many degrees you have on the wall. You all, all of us can still stand a little more education. I don't care how much you know, when you read the Bible, you find out how ignorant you are, how stupid you are. I've read scriptures over and over and over again. And then when I read it again, I find, man. I didn't see it the first time. I tell these young guys, they go to school now and they get a two year degree, and they want a thousand member church. And then they look at me and I say, man, listen, son, I've forgotten more than I learned. I forgot more than I learned. So notice, God want us to grow up, but he want our roots to grow deep. That's what that grow deeply is. We ought to grow up in God, but the word ought to grow deep on the inside of us.
Which brings me to my third point, y'all, we almost there. We are almost there.
David says, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of the sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. This is so deep. David's the writer said, first of all, don't walk with them, because once you start walking with them, it's just a matter of time. You're gonna stop and stand with them.
Yeah. And then after you stand with them, he said, you'll sit down with them.
Blessed is the man who walketh not, standeth not, or sitteth in the way of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate. Day and night we meditate about our jobs. First thing we get up in the morning, we meditate on our job. All throughout the day we meditate. Even at night when we go to bed, we thinking about what we got to do the next day. The writer says it ought not to be that way. You want to have a productive life, you got to change that thinking. Which brings me to number three. We have to move from a shallow to a resilient Christian. Move from being a shallow Christian to a resilient Christian. Why should I move, preacher? Why should I move? Well, you got to move from the shallow waters to other waters because other people are dependent on you.
I love studying, but I don't like getting all these lessons together. But I have to do it because my kids are dependent on me. My wife is dependent on me. The congregation is dependent on me. That's why I study the way I study, because I want to bring you. What does say it? The Lord. You never know who is looking up to you. You'd be surprised if the young kids say, you know what? I was watching you when I was five years old. I was watching you when I was ten years old. I was watching you when I was 20 years old. Why? Because people are watching us. Therefore, we got to move from shallow Christianity to being a resilient Christian.
One of the saddest things that I heard a couple of weeks ago, saddest thing is a lady. She's been a member of the church for many, many years, ladies in her seventies. And I'm gonna put it out there as a disclaimer, but the lady says she came with a question. She says, but, preacher, I hate to say this. I've been. Been a member of the church for years.
Didn't miss a Sunday. Didn't miss a Wednesday night. She says, but I have a problem. She says, I have a five year old grandson that's asking me about the Lord, and I don't know what to tell her.
Y'all let that sink in. You know what? That automatically told me she was going to church, but she was shallow in the word. Just because you come to church doesn't mean that you growing. Let me give you a news flash. The devil come to church. Also, the devil sit right next to you. The devil will whisper in your ear just so the word would not penetrate in your heart. So I got to move from this shallowness, because not only are my kids, I got four kids. They call me all the time with all these Bible questions. I got to be there for them. Now. I got a grandchild that's coming up. We got to be there for her. So what are you saying, preacher?
Other people are dependent on you? Got to teach them how to rebound when life's upset. Knocked them down. Can I tell you, your kids, your grandkids, they gonna go through some stuff.
At a very early age, my mother left this world. I think I was 28, turned 29. I did my mother's eulogy. It's the hardest thing that a young man could ever do, preach his mother's funeral. But I had to do it because Mama said, boy, mama used to have a slogan, I brought you in this world, and I'll take you out.
So I said, if she was that boy, I think I can take care of mama's funeral. Ten years later, daddy died.
I had to do my father's eulogy.
2018 my brother passed away.
Family called in and said, you gotta do your brothers.
I wanna grieve like everybody else, but I had folks that were dependent on me. 2018 2019 my sister passed away. I had to do a eulogy, and now it's just me and my other brother. And he said, and he taught me, listen, if I leave, why don't you start?
Don't start, don't start. So notice I got to move from shallow Christianity to a resilient Christianity. People preach. Why did this happen to, why is our children, they were raised in a good church. They were raised in a christian home. Why are they leaving the church? Why do some of our people go from being a passionate Christian to Mia missing in action? Well, I tell you why. Because it's your vocation overrides your faith.
When your vocation overrides your faith, you're gonna have some issues in the house. Now, I don't wanna make none of y'all mad, but the scripture says, have I become your enemy? Because I tell you the truth, I don't know none of y'all, but I know that some of our congregations don't put a ball game before the Lord. I know you wanna play ball. I know you wanna do all of this. But you make sure that your relationship is strong with the Lord. That's why I like some of these organizations now. They have. What do you do when things happen?
You adopt a plan for resilience. You prepare for a change, and you make peace with your past. Say that again. You adopt a plan for resilience. You prepare for a change, and you make peace with your past. So why do I have to move from a shallow Christian to a resilient Christian? Is because now we are dealing with the young generation. They call it the you lost me culture.
You ever talk to somebody and they say, you know what, you lost me.
Sometimes you preach in church to young folk, man, you lost me. So. But what are they saying? You're not speaking my language. You lost me culture.
I love this. And I heard the first bail.
When you talk about these young folks, they have more knowledge content than any other generation, but they have a lack of discernment for how to wisely apply that knowledge.
That's why these young kids need me. My son, 26, he'll call me. He think he got it figured out. And he'll call me, and I just give him a quick one line, and he said, whoa, dad, that's deep. That's. Boy, hush.
That's just common sense. Because what they see is deep. Now, in reality, it's just common sense. So let me leave you with this shallow. Ask yourself the question. Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't answer it right now. Is your faith, is it considered to be inch deep faith or mile wide faith? Don't answer that yet. Let me give you. Is it. Some people say, man, I got inch deep faith. Somebody said, well, preach. I got mild, wide faith. Well, if you put both of them together, inch deep faith, mild, wide faith, what you get is too shallow to survive and too broad to make a difference.
Some of us, we're too shallow to survive, but we're too broad to make a difference. Y'all been great on tonight. That's why we have so much shallow talk, the church. Shallow talk in your home. I would go to church because the church is boring. I would study the Bible, but it's boring. My church doesn't prepare me for the real life. So when you look at psalms one, verse number one through three, maybe next time I'll be able to come and do the exegetical, hermeneutical approach of it. But let me give it to you. Verse one through three. This is a picture of a successful Christian. If you want to know how to be a successful child of God, that deep mentor says right here in verse number one through three, this is it. But if you look at verse four through verse number six, it leads to an unsuccessful life. Let me read it to you. Look at verse four through verse number six. The ungodly are not so. They are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor the sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord know the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly, the writer says, shall perish. So I want to ask you this question. Are you a resilient Christian? I want to ask you this last question. We got five minutes. Got five minutes.
Are you settling for shallow faith? Are you settling for shallow faith? I think we all can quote this scripture. Y'all know it by heart. Hebrews, chapter eleven and verse number six. The writer says, but without faith, it is impossible to please him. But he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. The problem with the church is too many of us are settling for a shallow faith. We just happen. I've been to Madison Church of Christ. That's good you came. But how strong is your faith? Man, I done been to southwest. That's good you came, man. I got a big Bible. That's good you got a big Bible. But how deep is your faith?
We are settling for shallow faith.
Why do we have shallow faith? Well, I tell you why we have it. We're getting ready to get out of here. Too many of us are stuck in the poverty of the knowledge of the scriptures. And when you are stuck, we look at those kids in Africa, we say, man, they are in poverty. We look at everybody else that's in poverty. But if you take a look at yourself, scripturally, you may be in poverty yourself. Because when you don't know the word of God, when you don't study the word of God, you are starving your spirit, your soul, what it needs. So that simply means if I'm not getting the word of God, then I'm shallow.
We only call God when we in trouble. That's shallow. As long as you got money in the bank. People say, I don't talk to God. I got money. I can handle it. Met a lady once, she was a millionaire. She said, but, preacher, I see your life. I know you don't have money. She says, but I would give it all away just so that I can have a peace of mind. And the relationship that you have with God, you won't know what she was saying. I have shallow faith.
When we don't share our faith with those who are lost, we have shallow faith. So how do I get out of the shallow end and maintain in the deep? You got to understand God's word. It offers us much more. The difference between a shallow life and a deep life is following God. That's the second bail.
If we are not fully committed to Jesus, then we are shallow in a shallow relationship and we don't have deep roots. I'm out of time, but I am not out of message. Don't settle for less. Shallow faith hinders resilience. I like that. Deep faith turns obstacles into stepping stone. What are you going through tonight? Okay, if it's a. If it's a health challenge, you can turn it into a stepping stone. Do you have relationship issues? You can turn it into your stepping stone. Do you have financial problem? You can turn it into a preacher. I'm looking for a job. Well, take it to God. Because here's the thing. When you take your burdens and your problems and whatever to God, only God can turn your situation around. So stop talking to man about your problem. Stop talking to everybody about your problem. Whatever you go through, learn how to take it to God. I thank you for your time. Let's pray.
Father, God in heaven, we thank you for what our eyes have seen and our ears have heard. We thank you for this message on tonight. Shallow faith hinders resilience. Lord, we just pray that you'll just bless us as we continue to study your word. Allow us to grow up in your word. Allow our roots to grow deep in your word. Father, we just pray that if there's any sin in any of us, we pray that you would just forgive us of our sins, cast them into the sea of forgiveness, and remember them no more. Lord, if we're not. If anyone here is not saved, we just pray that they get to know you before it's everlasting. Too late. Lord, we pray a special prayer upon the leadership here. Just pray that you just continue to crown them their head with wisdom and knowledge. Continue to bless them that they will stand on the battlefield for you. We love you. We praise you. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.
