Beltway Park
Building a Life that Matters
Risky Faith
Beltway Park June 27, 2010
Text: Nehemiah 2:1-10 (p.472)

Faith is not always ___________.
Nehemiah 2:1 tells us that Nehemiah had never been _________ in the
presence of Artaxerxes. His job as cupbearer was to keep the king both
safe from poisoning and happy in demeanor.
As soon as Artaxerxes noticed his demeanor, Nehemiah was at
_________ _________. The safest thing for Nehemiah to do at that
point was to apologetically grovel and slap a smile on his face.
Nehemiah had been praying for favor with Artaxerxes. It seemed
God was answering his prayer, but he had to step out and act in this
thing called ____________.

__________ and ___________ often go together.
Faith means we are _______________ enough about God’s heart and
character that we will risk following Him even when we do not know
what the immediate outcome will be. (Heb. 11:1-2)
We are so convinced that we are ___________ in Him forever that we
act upon His word and leadings even when we do not know how things
are going to turn out in a specific situation.
We are a world in love with ____________. Why would anyone
dare to live a life of faith when it can be so risky? (Heb. 11:6)

God-led risk leads to the greatest ____________.
Most of us have heard a modern day proverb that has some great truth in
it. _______________________. There is a lesser-known proverb that is
equally true. ____________________________.

If we do not believe God rewards those who seek after Him, we will
never take the risks of faith. We are designed by _________ to take
the greatest risks where we think we will get the greatest reward.
The message of God in the Bible from the beginning to the end is
that the greatest reward and greatest pleasure we can ever find
will be found in ____________ __________ and knowing His
ways. (Ps. 16:11)
____________ ___________ enables us to see and experience the
reality of who God is, and knowing more and more the reality of God
and joining with Him in eternal matters is the greatest of joys.
Every act of obedience has a level of risk that requires
_______________ to say yes.
To become a Christian, I have to _______ _____ to my sinfulness
before a holy God. I have to confess that as I am God can have
nothing to do with me, and I can do nothing to fix myself.
I have to give my life to Him, trusting that loving Him and
radically following Him will give me __________ ________ than
what I could get on my own, both in this life and the life to come.
(Mk. 10:29-30; Jn. 10:10)
It takes courage to confess that I am a sinner but Jesus’ work on the
cross is enough to utterly change me. It takes courage to say yes to
be a ______________ and not just somebody who says they believe.
I’m not promoting recklessness and lack of _____________. I am
not saying just do unsafe things and call it God.
There will be things God calls us to do that are awkward –
uncomfortable – stretching – seemingly ________________.
If we want to have the life God has promised, a life that
____________, it requires faith. Inherent to faith is risk. No risk, no
reward.