This sermon explores how we can go about deepening our faith. It contains numerous quotes and insights from John Ortberg's book, "If you want to walk on water you've got to get out of the boat."

2. Series Outline
•A Mile High and a Mile Wide Aren’t
Enough.

3. 10
20
30
The
essential
Z Axis
YearsSince
ComingtoChrist
Breadth of Christian Service

4. Series Outline
•A Mile High and a Mile Wide Aren’t
Enough.
•Deepening Your Faith in God.
•Deepening Your Love of God.
•Tapping into God’s Power.
•Experiencing the “Fullness” of God.

5. Series Verses:
Ephesians 3
14 For this reason I kneel before the
Father, 15 from whom his whole family in
heaven and on earth derives its name. 16
I pray that out of his glorious riches he
may strengthen you with power through
his Spirit in your inner being,

6. Series Verses:
Ephesians 3
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith. And I pray that you, being
rooted and established in love, 18 may
have power, together with all the saints,
to grasp how wide and long and high and
deep is the love of Christ,

7. Ephesians 3
19 and to know this love that surpasses
knowledge—that you may be filled to the
measure of all the fullness of God.

8. Deepening Your
Faith in God

10. First Point
In order to grow in faith, we
need to allow God to work
on our fear problem.

11. Faith and Fear
“Your boat is
whatever pulls
you away from
the high
adventure of
extreme
discipleship.”John Ortberg

12. 1 Peter 3
(NIV- 1984)
13 Who is going to harm you if you are
eager to do good? 14 But even if you
should suffer for what is right, you
are blessed. "Do not fear what they
fear; do not be frightened." 15a But in
your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.

15. There are 366
“fear not” verses
in the Bible – one
for every day in
the year, including
one for leap year!
Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie
Former Chaplain to the U.S.
Senate

16. Two Types of
Fear
1.Physiological
Fear System: An
internal warning
mechanism that
alerts us to
danger. (Fast
system)John Ortberg

17. Two Types of
Fear
2. Rational Fear
System: A
slower
“reflective”
system.
John Ortberg

18. Question
What “childish” or
irrational fear
prevents you from
“getting out of the
boat” and serving
God?

19. Second Point
In order to grow in faith, we
need to allow God to work
on our trust problem.

20. John 14:1
•Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in
God, believe also in me. KJV
•"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in
God; trust also in me. NIV
•μη ταρασσεσθω υμων η καρδια πιστευετε
εις τον θεον και εις εμε πιστευετε

21. Is God Trustworthy?
“Fear has created more
practicing heretics than
bad theology ever has,
for it makes us live as
though we serve a
limited, finite, partially
present, semi-competent
God.”

22. Every
uncomfort-
able step of
faith
provides the
opportunity
to build
trust.

23. What about failure?
Your heart is
revealed and your
character is forged
when life does not
turn out the way you
planned.

24. Question
Can you think of a failure in
your life which God used to
grow you? Did your trust in
God ultimately increase,
despite this failure?

25. “Failure is an inside
job. So is success. If you
want to achieve, you have
to win the war in your
thinking first. You can't let
the failure outside you get
inside you.”

26. Third Point
In order to grow in faith, we
need to allow God to
restore our hope.

27. Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance
of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen.
“Hope is simply faith directed
toward the future.” (ISBE)

28. Hope vs. Optimism
“When I hope, I believe
that God is at work to
redeem all things
regardless of how things
happen to be turning out
for me today.”

30. Two Laws that
Govern Your Life
1.The Law of Cognition: You
are what you think.

31. 2.The Law of Exposure:
Your mind will think most
about what it is most
exposed to.
Two Laws that
Govern Your Life