Risk takers for God

David is one the towering figures of the Scriptures dubbed as 'a man after God own heart' and the king 'par excellence' in the history of Israel. David's life is marked by risk taking. In this sermon we look at a well-known chapter in David’s life when he took a risk and it all blew up in his face (2 Samuel 11:1-5, 26-2). The psychologist, Adam Grant, writes that people who are entrepreneurs and risk-averse tend to be more successful over the long run. Theologically it is interesting to see what happens when a risk you take does not work out. Where do you go from there? How does your faith make sense of failure? 

The Apostle Paul took a lot of risks to bring the gospel far and wide. What drove him to take such extraordinary risks? This Sunday we will explore Paul's risky business, what was behind it, and the impact that it has on our lives today.

Our speaker today is Rev. Teun van der Leer from Houten, rector of the Dutch Baptist Seminary at VU-University in Amsterdam.
This time we will be looking at Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from Chapter 3 of the Book of Daniel; three Hebrew men thrown into a fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, when they refuse to bow down to the king’s image. These risk-takers for God did not conform to the ‘majority vote’ of the time, but held firm to their commitment to serve only God, even if He would not rescue them.  
 

Famous risk taker Jonah is not the bravest of this summer’s series of Biblical risktakers. God’s new assigment does not fit Jonah's own plan for the future, which leads to a stormy relationship between them. The Bible’s famous and 2700 year old account of a man trying to be not available for God’s purpose hopefully inspires us to rethink our own availability for God’s calling.

This Sunday as part of our continued series on ‘Risk takers for God’, we will look at what taking a risk for God really means; faith in action. We'll also highlight what a great example Esther was in not allowing fear to paralyze her when faced with an impossible decision.

This Sunday as part of our continued series on ‘Risk takers for God’, we will look at Rahab. She believed the stories she heard about God and trusted that He indeed was who He said He was and went for it! Her remarkable and inspiring faith not only saved her own life but those close to her as well. 

Risk Takers - Moses (Exodus 2:11-15 and 3:7-11) 
Moses as an Egyptian prince took big risk and it blew up in his face. He had to flee and became a virtually insignificant person (VIP). It took forty years for Moses to arrive at a place in life, when he was ready to become God's friend and a prophet like no other. 
After forty years God took a risk and called Moses to be His instrument of liberation. God not only took a risk on Moses but also he took a risk on Israel and allowed them to become 'his people'. God's ultimate risk is the risk he took in Christ. 
It is the risk of God's love on display in Christ. He took that risk even though it cost Him everything. Now that's what lovers do: they take the risk of love.

"Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he ...."Many people have learned that song in Sunday school. We might be tempted to think, therefore, that this is a story "for children only." Nothing could be further from the truth. The story of Zacchaeus is one of the most important stories for children and adults in the entire Gospel of Luke. We owe Luke a great debt. as in his Gospel we read what the mission of Jesus was all about, and in turn what the mission of the church is all about. A great story about  the Grace of God and therefor a great start of our summer party! 

The next risk taker in our series is Peter.
Text:  Mt 14:22-33 

Our guest speaker, theologian Andrew Perriman, opened our new series on ‘Risk-Takers’ by taking us deep into Genesis, the goodness of Creation, but the distortions of the Fall, and how God, grieved by the violence and wickedness of humans, called Noah to take a risk, build a boat (complete with ‘flood-lights’!), called him to be His agent for rescuing life human and animal on earth. Andrew unpacked how ancient Israel, in re-telling this judgment story, interpreted it differently than the surrounding polytheistic cultures with their fickle, soap-opera deities; the one true God is merciful, the God of a new creation, a covenant sign, a rainbow, to promise ‘never again’... and this God, then, and later, in a ‘new covenant’ of grace, through Jesus, in being willing to use imperfect people...like Moses, like us... is the real ‘Risk-Taker’ hero of the story!