Frankie Mazzapica - How Faith Burns in Storms
We’re in a series right now. As I mentioned, this is part three, but the series is called «The Fight, the Finish, and Flames of Faith.» So today’s message is going to talk about how faith can continue to burn in a storm. How can it, in other words, have faith in God when things are going well? «God, I love you. You’re so good! I’m getting green lights every single day. Everybody’s smiling at me. You’ve kept all the idiots out of my life, and I’m rich.» It’s easy to believe God when things are like that. But how do you hang on to faith when you’re in the middle of a storm?
Let me just lay the foundation using the scripture that we’ve been building on. It reads like this: 2 Timothy 4:6. It says this: «Now this is the Apostle Paul speaking: For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.» In other words, I know I’m about to pass away; I know I’m about to die. But he says this: «I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, and I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.»
Now, notice here that he’s talking about how you and I — not just he- have a great reward, not for doing awesome things. You and I value our life by what we do. God values your life according to your endurance. Can you continue to be faithful and fight the good fight? Hang on to believing Him when you’re in the middle of a storm. Paul is saying this: «I know I’m about to die, and there is going to be a crown waiting for me just because I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. My life is over, and I’ve continued to believe in Him.»
If you’re anything like me-not to be redundant-you look at your life. You value your life according to what boxes you have checked. How successful has your life been according to what you have done? What the Lord says is this: the fact that you have endurance. You’re not Superman. You’re not Superwoman. You’re not the Apostle Paul. You’re not Samson. You’re not Deborah. You’re not Mary. You’re not. The only thing that you can really acknowledge is that you just haven’t quit yet. You haven’t quit on God. You haven’t quit on a loved one.
The job is not everything you’ve hoped it would be, but everybody you work with looks at you as one of the most faithful, consistent people. You have a spirit of endurance. The fact that you’re here right now means you have endurance. You’re going to give God your life. And some of you, this is the first time you’ve ever given God a shot. It’s the first church you’ve ever been in. Some of you, you haven’t been to church in a long time, but you’re just going to show up again. That’s called endurance. You just keep on, you just keep on, look, you keep on lifting your faith.
What’s the definition of faith? So glad you asked. This is in Hebrews 11, verse one. It reads like this: «To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.» This sounds like a big, huge oxymoron. You can’t see it, but you’re sure it’s going to happen. I’m not 100% sure, but I’m stretching my faith. «God, I believe you’re in my future somewhere preparing me. I believe that you’re protecting me.»
I have three major points for you. The first one is that spark of faith-how faith sparks and how it starts. Then I’m going to talk about how it turns into a flame for the storm. And then I’m going to talk about proclamations-things you say. This spark of faith, everybody’s faith in this room, if you’ve given your life to the Lord, you say, «Jesus, I love you,» it started with a spark of faith. Nothing else. Watch this. This, I believe it’s in Ephesians. Is that right? Yeah, Ephesians 2:8. «For it is by grace you have been saved through faith.» That’s where your whole relationship with God started-with faith. «And this is not from yourselves; it is a gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast.»
Show the next one, please. This is in Romans: «For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin.» You don’t have to pay for your sins; I don’t have to. People are made right with God when they believe-faith-when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life. One more: «Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.»
So every single person’s relationship with God started by believing, «God, I believe in you. I trust you. You got this. You got my future, and you got my present.» Now, sometimes I doubt it. Sometimes I wrestle with it. But that’s the spark of faith: «I believe you have me, and I believe that you are involved.» Can I say this? God is more involved than what you think He is. God cares way more than you can imagine, and God has your present moment completely under control. He has already paved your future ahead of you.
The Bible says in Psalms 34:7 that there is an angel of the Lord that surrounds you and protects you. That angel is not going anywhere. Can you give Jesus an applause for that? It’s not going anywhere. But this spark of faith to keep it aflame, you have to say, «God’s got this.» You have to back up and say, «I got this.» It’s okay. I’m not going to crumble. I’m not going to fade. I got this. I grew up playing basketball. I love sports. I love to watch sports. And the athletes that I feel have the most pressure on their shoulders are the athletes in the Olympic Games.
You see, not everybody likes to watch basketball. Not everybody likes to watch football or baseball, down the list. But the entire globe, the entire planet, is watching the Olympic Games. Now, the event that I like the most is the gymnastics events because you don’t have a team. Like basketball, you have four other guys out there. You don’t have a team; it’s just you. And take, for instance, the balance beam. That beam is 4 inches wide. Does anyone -it’s four inches, not five inches, right? Four inches. Thank you! Cali is 4 inches wide, and they’re doing things on that 4-inch beam that mere humans can’t do on the ground, okay? And the world is looking at you. The world. And we’re not talking about seasoned adults around the age of 40 or 50. No, no, no -we’re talking about teenagers here. The world! This is pressure.
Now, in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, the Rio games, there was this gymnast named Lori-what is it? Lori Hernandez. Thank you, Lori Hernandez! She’s probably my favorite gymnast of all time, and you’ll see why. When she walked up to the beam, the pressure of the world was on her, and she whispered to herself, «I got this.» Take a look at this! You became a bit of an internet sensation. Right before you went up and got on the beam, you said, «I got this,» and everybody started talking about it. It was all over the internet. Tell me about that moment and what you were trying to accomplish. Well, I was actually surprised that it went viral because for previous competitions, I do that, too.
So basically, it’s like a confidence thing. It’s just to reassure myself, like, «Look, you got this,» and it’s something that I do right before I compete. I did it here too, and it went viral, and it worked. What are some of the other things you do to keep your cool? I pray on the event right before I get on it just to make sure I’m grounded right before I go on, and it works every time. So ain’t that cool? Come on, ain’t that cool? I never forgot that she walks up to the beam and says, «I got this.» And then Ryan Seacrest, who’s on every single show on TV, says, «Do you have any other part in your routine?» And he says she says, «Yeah, I pray.» And what did she say after that? «And it works every time, I got this.»
And when you can’t believe in yourself, stretch your faith to believe in God. I tell you-I say it all the time-and it’s important to say it out loud. Notice she didn’t think it; she said it out loud. The enemy is afraid of what you say in faith, out loud. I walk around, and I say, «God’s got this. God’s got this.» You only need to say that when your faith is thin: «God’s got this.» Your faith started with a spark: «God’s got this.» If that’s the only thing you remember this whole day, «God’s got this.» If you’re gonna go get a tattoo, «God’s got this.» I’m not reco- I’m going to smack you around like-no, I like tattoos; I’m just scared of needles. «God’s got this.» Let’s say that three times: «God’s got this.» One, two, three.
Point number two is keeping that in a flame. There was a guy named Deus. Paul had a friend named Deus, and he just turned from the whole faith. He just turned. Paul’s saying, «I finished the good fight; I’ve kept the faith.» Keep this in mind: he got whipped five times with a whip that had 39 lashes. It was called a cat o' nine tails-39 different stripes with glass in it. Five times stoned, three times shipwrecked, three times he was out freezing in a prison more times than theologians can count. But he knew the Scripture. The Old Testament was already written-Psalms, Proverbs-it was already written by the time he was living. He knew those Scriptures, and he would say out loud the same thing David would say out loud in Psalms 34:1: «I will bless the Lord at all times; His praises will always be on my mouth.» He’s sitting in jail praising, «I love You, I love You, I love You.»
If you just say «I love You» 79,000 times in a row, you can’t come up with a prayer that blesses the Lord more than that. «Your praises will always be on my mouth. I love You, I love You, I love You,» being stoned. «I love You, I love You, I love You, I love You.» But Deus, his friend, did the exact opposite. Let me show you what Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:10: «For Deus has forsaken me, having loved this present world.» There are four major reasons, the most common reasons why people love the Lord and then they don’t care about the Lord. They love Him, but they don’t care about Him. They just kind of, at one point-many of you know people like this-at one point, «I’m Yours.»
And then, «I don’t know what happened,» but they just don’t care anymore. They just turned their back on the entire faith. Demas turned around. Watch this. Before I give you the four reasons, this is going to be a common thing in our world, very common. 1 Timothy 4: 1 — 2 reads like this: «The Spirit clearly says that in latter times some will abandon the faith; they will follow deceiving spirits.» Those are demons. «They will follow demons and things taught by demons.» Deceiving spirits taught by demons. «Such teachings will come through hypocritical liars whose consciences have been seared with a hot iron.»
Watch this. I’ve been trying to keep it there; I’ve been trying to unpack this for years. This is just a sidebar; this is free. Deceiving spirits-teachings that come through hypocritical liars, people, demons teaching through people. Demonic teachings coming through people. Now, you would not believe a demonic voice telling you a complete lie, but you would believe a person telling you something that’s half holy and the other half sinful. See, how do I want to say this? Discernment is not trying to figure out the difference between what is right and wrong. Discernment is noticing the difference between what’s almost right and wrong, because almost right is wrong.
If you say 2 times 2 is five, it is almost right. Are you with me? Okay, that was such a sidebar that I forgot what I was talking about. Okay, Deus. Deus turned in his faith. Four reasons. I’m going to go through this real quickly. Four things that cause a person to drift from God the most: number one is that there’s this love for sinful things. «I like doing this so much. I know you don’t like when I do it, but I like doing it so much, I’m just going to do it anyway. And I’m better than most people, so I’m sure you’ll be fine.» Wrong. Please take a ticket and go to the end of the line. That’s how people turn. Deus must have turned. Matthew 13:19–23 talks about this.
There’s point number two. People drift because of a lack of understanding. The Bible says this: that a preacher will preach; a friend will talk to a friend. Seed will go out into your heart, and people will say, «I love the truth.» But because they don’t quite understand, they’ll leave. The next verse says this: the seed will go out. People will hear the message. Watch this. But because they don’t have deep roots, they will drift. Deus, Deeus, they will turn as soon as they have problems. Some of us know people who believe in the Lord, but as soon as they have a problem, you don’t see them anymore. First Peter 4:13 says this: «Don’t think it’s strange when something’s happening to you because it’s happening to everybody.»
Every single person here had a problem this week that we had no idea why it was happening. Are you with me? Say yes! Say it again: Are you with me? Say yes! Verse 21 says this: that the message of Christ will go out, but it will be choked by thorns because they will worry so much, and they will be drawn by wealth. These are things that draw, Deus. What happened? We got Paul over here saying, «I have kept the faith. I just kept saying, 'God’s got this! God’s got this! God’s got this! God’s got this! '» And then you got Deus; he’s just looking around. If you look around, you’ll be drawn all around because the spirit that you entertain will eventually be the spirit that you serve.
See, sometimes Satan can’t get you to sin, so he will get you to be entertained by sin. And so Deus never turned. Now, Paul-watch this-Paul understood this. The «if you» scriptures-if you-there are certain «if you» statements: God’s saying this: «I’m going to give you a command, and if you do it, I have a promise that I’m going to reward you with.» But you got to take the risk. They’re actually called CPR. CPR! Everybody say CPR! CPR! CPR! Verses: there’s the command, there’s the promise, and then there’s the risk. These are «if you.» If you follow the command, I’ll give you this, but you got to take the risk. Let me give you a couple of examples-watch this. There we go. Very good! You’re on it, baby!
Deuteronomy 28:2: «All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God.» You’re going to be blessed if you-boy, those are some big little words! If you… So many times people say, «God, I can’t-I don’t understand!» But you didn’t do the next verse: 2 Chronicles 7:14. «If"-man, that’s such a big two-letter word. «If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then here comes the promise.» That’s the command; here’s the promise: «Then I will hear from heaven.» In other words, if you don’t do that, I don’t hear you. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It’s like Charlie Brown’s parents.
«Wait! I don’t even hear you! Unless you pray, unless you seek my face and turn from your wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven. I will forgive their sin and heal their land.» What are we talking about? Heal their land! There were people who were putting seed in the ground, but they weren’t getting any crops because God’s backing up and he says, «I will bless you and I will heal your land if you…» Sometimes you’re like, «God, why aren’t you doing anything? Look, nothing good is coming out of…» and he says, «If you-if you…» CPR! There’s a command. There’s a promise. «I’m going to heal your land, but you got to take the risk.»
Let me give you one more verse: Deuteronomy 28:13. The Lord will make you the head and not the tail. If you’ve never been the tail, you don’t know what I’m talking about, right? Where you work with somebody and you’re like, «Man, things are clicking for you, and I’m nothing but your little beaten boy.» Like, you’ve never not been there. That’s fine. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.
I think there’s one more verse, Jeremiah 29:13. When you seek me, you will find me when you search for me with all your heart. People who search for God, I like country music just like any other Texan. But there are times when I need to turn it off and play worship music because when I’m listening to worship music, I am seeking Him. My mind’s attention and my heart’s affection are on God. This is me seeking Him. When you go and pray and you just say, " Lord, I’m just going to go into this room and pray for five minutes,» you’re seeking Him. And He’s saying this: When you seek me, you’re going to find me. When you seek me with all your heart, there are going to be people who stand around you and say, «God, where are You? Where are You? Where are You? Where are You? Where are You?»
Well, they’re not paying attention to the CPR. There’s a command, there’s a reward, there’s a promise, and then there’s a risk. Do they still have ice cream trucks that go through neighborhoods anymore? You know what I mean. I used to live in the Northshore Channel View area. Some of you don’t know where that is, but it’s the complete opposite kind of neighborhood as The Woodlands. So whatever you see in The Woodlands, take that and imagine the opposite. I mean, on our trailer homes, we put spinners to make them look cool on the wheels. What was I saying? Oh yeah. Thank you, Ally.
I want you to stand up and wave at everybody. This is my wife, Ally. If you haven’t met her, stand up. Stand up. Stand up. All of our sermon notes are in the Celebration app. If you go to your app store, it’s in Celebration Church TWW. She’s going through that app while I’m speaking the whole time because as soon as I get off, she’s telling me what to do. Ice cream truck on the east side of Houston. I lived on a street called Tunan, and I can remember this little grassy area where all my friends used to play.
It’s close to my house. We’d be playing stickball, soccer, basketball-the whole nine yards. But then I’d hear the ice cream truck, and I’d drop everything because that truck is not waiting on anybody. It’s not like the school bus, right, that just sits out in front of the house and waits for that kid who forgot his backpack or something. It’s not like the school bus; it just keeps going, and you have to chase it down, flag it down. It goes really, really slow. You’ve got to run home. You’ve got to get, «Can I have 75 cents?» Ice cream! Hannah is here! And you have to run out and get it. And there’s a particular tune that you can hear, and you know that’s the ice cream truck. For those of you that have heard it before, you’ll recognize it. Go ahead and play the tune.
Put your hands together if you recognize that tune. Everybody wants ice cream-all the kids! Everybody wants ice cream, but you know the key is, are you, like, as a kid, going to make an instant decision? Are you going to drop what you’re doing and go chase down an ice cream truck? So now there’s like this " which one do I want more» kind of thing. Deeus had that decision to make: «Which one do I want more?» And the Holy Spirit will speak to you; you will hear it-not out loud, just right down in here-and you’ll recognize it. You’ll recognize that sound or that pull, and at that minute, you have to decide whether or not you’re going to drop what you’re doing. Stop talking.
I know a friend of mine; I’ve been friends with him for so long, and I admire him so much because I’ve never heard him say something bad about someone in my life. Sometimes, there’s a conversation going on, and they’re bad-mouthing this person. My friend knows that person better than they do, but there’s something in him. Over and over again, the Holy Spirit will say, «Just drop it. Drop the attitude. Just drop it. Drop the offense. Just drop it. I don’t care if you’re right or not -just drop it.»
There are certain ways that Satan entices people, and you’ll feel it. Just drop it. Sometimes, you’ll feel this pull to go shut the door of your room. My daughter is off to college right now, so her bedroom is empty. I tell my family all the time, «Hey, I’m going to go run up to Presley’s room just to pray for a little bit.» Sometimes it’s short; sometimes it’s long. But I just feel that Frankie, drop what you’re doing. Just drop it. See, I can preach about storms to you really, really well because I have to go through them just like you. I don’t get a pass because I’m a pastor; I’ve got to go through them just like you. There’s this split-second moment where you know you’ve got to drop something. Just drop it or start it. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray.
There are times where you say, «My truck or my car is going to become a moving sanctuary going down the road right now,» and you put worship music on, which is so crazy nowadays because you just say, «Siri, play worship music.» Boom! If you have a Google phone, nothing’s going to happen, but you can try anyway. But it’s so easy to turn your car into a sanctuary; it’s so easy to play worship music in your house. It’s these decisions. There are certain people you just can’t be around. Decisions! This is how our faith stays burning in the fire. God’s got this, God’s got this, God’s got this.
To proclaim, final point, just real quickly: to proclaim is two words. Pro is to reach forward, to reach forward to the future. It’s like your mind is forward. That’s very hard to do because if you’re not careful, all you think about is right now. And then to claim is to claim something that God promised you. You don’t believe anything is in the future; you don’t believe anything good is in the future. But to proclaim says, «I’m not going to think about this, and I’m going to claim what I don’t even believe in.»
In Philippians 1:6, it says that God is carefully paying attention to you to make sure that the plans He has for you happen. God’s got this. I know you’ve got this; I know you’ve got this; you’re watching over me. I think I’ve memorized about 230 verses somewhere in there. I’ve never counted before, but I do know there are 23 pages, font size 10, not double spaced. So, I don’t know. I’ve never counted. It was never my intention to rack up that many verses.
Just years and years ago, Acts 20:24 was the only one I knew because I started crying when I read it. The scripture says that you will be my confidence and will keep my foot from getting caught. You will keep me from falling because I didn’t have any confidence in myself. Acts 20:24: you’ll be my confidence, Acts 20:24: you’ll be my confidence, Acts 20:24: you’ll be my confidence. Then I found another scripture, and then I had two. I just said those two over and over again. You can go to ChatGPT and say, «Give me a scripture for this.» Are you with me?
It doesn’t even matter if all of a sudden you shift careers and back up to say, «I’m going to start welding.» You know, it doesn’t matter if you do that. You just switch lifestyles and say the verse over and over again. Would you stand to your feet for me, please? I’d like for all of our prayer partners to come down. If there’s any part of this message that resonates in your heart, I’d like to invite you to come down and take someone’s hand and let them pray with you.
If you’re in this room and you say, «Frankie, you don’t know me and I don’t know you, but I can tell you this: If my heart were to stop beating in the next five minutes, I’m not ready to see God,» I want you to come down here, take the hand of a prayer partner, and just say, «I need to get my life right.»
If you look down here and all the prayer partners are praying with somebody, just come to the bottom of the aisle. Some of the finest ushers we have — one at this aisle and one at that aisle- will point you to the first available prayer partner. There’s no official dismissal; you can leave whenever you want to, but let’s sing this song one time through before anyone goes. May the Lord bless you, may He keep you, may His face shine down upon you and be gracious to you. May His countenance be lifted up on you and bring you peace; may His joy be your strength. In Jesus' name.