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We Need a Little Christmas | Week 6 | Bill Bush · Rewind

Rock Point Church

74 min

Pastor Bill Bush · Dec 19, 2021 · 4 min read · 74 min listen

The big idea

Real faith isn't built to avoid hard seasons — it's built to keep trusting God when life doesn't work the way we expect.

In this message

The big idea
Point 1 of 5Trust the who, not the what
Point 2 of 5Trust God's word, not wishful thinking

Point 3 of 5Look beyond your circumstances
Point 4 of 5Worship God, not your worry
Point 5 of 5It always comes back to a person, not a plan
Take it into your week
Transcript

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Scripture in this message

Romans 1
Romans 4:17
Hebrews 6:13-14
Daniel 3
Romans 4:18
Romans 10

Rewind AI drafted the Big Idea and some point headings shown here from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Pastor Bill Bush · Dec 19, 2021 · 74 min watch · 2 min read

We Need a Little Christmas | Week 6 | Bill Bush

In this message

Big Idea
Key points
Application

Scripture in this message

Romans 1
Romans 4:17
Hebrews 6:13-14
Daniel 3
Romans 4:18
Romans 10

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

Real faith isn't built to avoid hard seasons — it's built to keep trusting God when life doesn't work the way we expect.

Following God's rules and doing everything right doesn't guarantee life will go smoothly — but that isn't a failure of faith. Abraham's faith worked even when his circumstances made no sense, because he trusted who God is, not what God would give him. That same faith is available to us through Jesus, who makes us right with God when nothing else can.

Key points

1
1Trust the who, not the what
Pastor Bill points to Romans 4:17, where Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead to life and creates something out of nothing — but the text says he believed God, not just what God could do. When faith is placed in the 'what' (outcomes, blessings, comfort), God becomes a resource instead of the source, and faith collapses the moment life stops delivering.
2
2Trust God's word, not wishful thinking
From Romans 4:18, Abraham hoped when there was no reason to hope because he held onto God's actual promise, not his own optimism. Pastor Bill ties this to James's teaching that genuine faith produces change — if someone claims to believe but never lets God's word alter their life, they should examine whether they ever truly believed at all.
3
3Look beyond your circumstances
Romans 4:19 says Abraham faced the fact that his body and Sarah's womb were as good as dead, yet did not waver. Pastor Bill unpacks the Greek behind 'faced the facts' (mind-down, implying discouragement) to show Abraham was honest about the hopelessness without letting it sink his mind — illustrated by the contrast between curated 'Insta Story' snapshots and the messy reality of most of life, using his own family photo as an example.
4
4Worship God, not your worry
Returning to Romans 4:20, Abraham's unwavering faith is described as bringing glory to God — worship. Pastor Bill defines worship as what you give your worth and attention to, and says worry wins by default unless we choose to praise and pray instead of just staring at the problem, noting the Greek word for 'waver' literally means 'two minds.'
5
5It always comes back to a person, not a plan
Pastor Bill closes the case for Abraham's faith with Romans 4:21-25 and the story of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22), where God stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son and provided a substitute sheep — a picture of Jesus, who was later sacrificed and not spared, so that we could be made right with God.

Because faith is not about avoiding bad seasons

Real faith is built for bad seasons

Application

Pastor Bill's charge is to build a faith for all seasons by trusting the who instead of chasing the what.

Trust God's character, not His deliverables
Stop treating God as a vending machine for outcomes you want. Surrender to who He is even when He doesn't give you the what you're asking for.
Get into God's word daily
If you want to trust the who, you have to know Him through Scripture rather than relying on your own wishful thinking about how life should go.
Be honest about hard circumstances without staying stuck there
It's okay to admit you're not okay, but don't let your mind stay fixated on the problem — look past the moment to what God may be doing beyond it.
Worship instead of worry
When worry keeps you up at night, make the choice to praise and pray rather than stare at the problem — worship is for the moments life makes least sense, not just for when you feel psyched up.
Put your faith in Jesus
If you've never surrendered to Christ, confess your sin and profess faith in what Jesus did on the cross and in His resurrection, the way Pastor Bill prayed with the church during communion.

Take it into your week

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“We all need a little bit of Christmas where we've been going through Romans chapter one through four, and the first two chapters is realizing what we're gonna see is that, hey, you know what”
From the transcript
“Look back at verse 17. That is what the scriptures mean when God told him, I have made you the father of many nations. This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life”
From the transcript
“Look what he does. Hebrews chapter six starting in verse 13. Verse thirteen and fourteen here. For example, there was God's promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name”
From the transcript
“Go to Daniel chapter three. Write this down and go read it. You're probably familiar with the story. These three guys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego”
From the transcript
“look what it says in verse 18. Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping. Believing that he would become the father of many nations, what did he say? For God said to him, that's how many descendants you'll have”
From the transcript
“That's what Romans 10 talks about. Your faith grows stronger when you hear God's word. The word there for hear is not just listen to, it means to hear with the with application”
From the transcript
“Look at verse 19. And Abraham's faith did not weaken even though at about 100 years of age he figured his body was as good as dead and so was Sarah's womb”
From the transcript
“now we're back to verse 20, which I started with. Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God”
From the transcript
“Look at what 21 the rest of this passage says. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. And because of Abraham's faith, God counted him as righteous”
From the transcript
“Verse 25, he was handed over to die because of our sins and he was raised to life to make us right with God. It comes back to it's a believing in a who over the whats”
From the transcript
“if you go to Genesis 22, don't have time to read it, but God comes he's now in his hundreds. He has this son that's that's getting older, and God comes and says, hey, Abraham, I need to do something”

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Sign in to track your progress through this devotional.

Day 1

Pastor Bill opened with a question that cuts right to the heart of what we call faith: is your trust in the *who* or in the *what*? It is easy to frame faith as a kind of transaction — we believe, and in return we expect certain outcomes. A healed relationship. A job that comes through. A season that finally turns. But Abraham was called to trust a God who raises the dead and calls things into existence that didn't exist before. That is not a God you bargain with; that is a God you simply cling to. The hard truth is that when the outcome we were counting on doesn't arrive, our faith can quietly collapse — not because we lost God, but because we had actually placed our confidence in the result, not in Him. Pastor Bill's challenge is personal but gentle: what would your faith look like if the thing you are most hoping for never came? That question isn't meant to discourage you — it's meant to help you discover whether the anchor is holding in the right place. God Himself is the point. He is not the means to a better life; He is the life. Starting there changes everything about how you read your circumstances.

For reflection

When you think about your faith right now, what outcome or hope is it most attached to — and what would it mean to trust God even if that outcome changed?

Pray

Pray for an honest look at where your trust is actually anchored today.

Day 2

Pastor Bill drew a sharp line between genuine faith and wishful thinking, and it is a line worth sitting with. Wishful thinking says, 'I hope things work out the way I have pictured them.' Faith says, 'God has spoken, and I will stand on what He said — even when everything around me says otherwise.' Abraham believed against hope, which means he was not ignoring reality. He could see the circumstances clearly. But he had something the circumstances could not cancel: a word from God. That is what separated belief from optimism. There is a real difference between a general feeling that things will be okay and an actual confidence grounded in what God has revealed in Scripture. One is a mood; the other is a foundation. This is why Pastor Bill kept coming back to the idea of actually getting into God's Word — not as a religious discipline to check off, but because you cannot anchor your faith to something you have never read. You can't trust a voice you haven't heard. If faith comes by hearing, as Romans 10 reminds us, then time in Scripture is not optional background noise. It is the primary way we come to know the God our faith is supposed to rest in.

For reflection

Is there an area of your life where you have been operating on wishful thinking rather than on something God has actually said? What would it look like to bring Scripture into that space?

Pray

Pray for a growing hunger to hear God's voice through His Word, especially in whatever feels uncertain right now.

Day 3

One of the most honest moments in the sermon came when Pastor Bill described what he called 'faithing the facts.' Abraham did not pretend his body wasn't as good as dead, or that Sarah's womb wasn't beyond the age of bearing children. He looked straight at those facts — and then looked beyond them to God. That distinction matters. Faith is not denial. It is not putting on a smile and refusing to acknowledge that something is hard or broken or scary. What it is, is a refusal to let the difficult fact have the final word. The facts are real; God is realer. This is where a lot of us get stuck. We think that admitting how hard something is means we are failing at faith. But Abraham's faith is described as strong precisely because he faced the reality without flinching and still chose to trust. That kind of faith is actually tougher and more honest than the version that just tries not to think about hard things. If you are in a season where the circumstances are genuinely discouraging, you don't have to pretend otherwise. You just don't have to stop there either. Let the hard thing be real, and then lift your eyes.

For reflection

What 'fact' in your life right now feels like it has the loudest voice? What would it look like to acknowledge it honestly and still choose to look beyond it?

Pray

Pray for the courage to face a difficult reality honestly, and for eyes that can see beyond it to who God is.

Day 4

Pastor Bill pointed to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as one of the clearest illustrations of faith in the who rather than the what. They told the king plainly: our God is able to save us. But even if He doesn't, we will not bow. That phrase — 'but even if He doesn't' — is one of the bravest sentences in all of Scripture. It is not resignation. It is not giving up on God. It is a declaration that their trust was not conditional on a specific outcome. They were not following God because they had negotiated a deal; they were following God because He is God. That kind of faith does not waver because it was never dependent on the outcome to begin with. Most of us have an unspoken 'but if He doesn't' buried somewhere in our trust — a line we haven't crossed yet but wonder about. What would happen to your faith if God said no to the thing you have been praying most urgently about? These three men give us an answer worth sitting with: it is possible to trust completely, without a guarantee, because the anchor is the person of God — not the promise of a particular outcome. That is the faith Pastor Bill was calling us toward.

For reflection

Is there a 'but even if He doesn't' in your own life — a place where you are not sure your faith would hold if the answer was no? What does that reveal about where your trust is rooted?

Pray

Pray for the kind of unconditional trust that can say 'even if He doesn't' and still choose to follow.

Day 5

Pastor Bill was direct about this one: worship is not just something we do when we feel good. It is a deliberate choice we make to realign our hearts when circumstances are pulling them down. Romans 4:20 says Abraham did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in his faith and gave glory to God. Those two things — growing strong and giving glory — are connected. Worship is not the reward you give God after He comes through. It is the act of trust itself. When you choose to glorify God in a hard season, you are making a declaration about who has authority over your heart. Worry, on the other hand, is not simply anxiety — it is a kind of rival worship. It is what happens when we give the problem more of our attention and awe than we give to God. Pastor Bill wasn't dismissing the reality of anxiety or fear — those feelings are deeply human. But he was asking us to notice what we are orienting our hearts toward. Making a daily, deliberate choice to worship is not about manufacturing a feeling; it is about making a decision. You may not feel it at first. But worship has a way of bringing the heart along. It is a practice that produces the thing it expresses.

For reflection

When you are in a difficult stretch, does worry tend to get more of your attention and energy than worship does? What is one small, practical way you could reorient toward worship today?

Pray

Pray for a willing heart to choose worship today, especially in whatever feels heavy or unresolved.

Day 6

The story of Abraham and Isaac is one of the most jarring passages in all of Scripture, and Pastor Bill did not soften it. God asked Abraham to lay down the very thing that represented God's own promise to him. Isaac was not just a beloved son; he was the proof that God had kept His word. And yet Abraham went. What does that tell us? It tells us that by that point in his journey, Abraham's faith was genuinely in the who — not the what. He was not holding onto the promise as if it were separate from the God who made it. He trusted that God could raise the dead if He had to, because he knew the kind of God he was dealing with. That surrender was not easy or painless. It was costly and frightening and completely without guarantee of the outcome he hoped for. But it was also — and this is what Pastor Bill pointed toward — a foreshadowing. A father and a son, on a hill, with a willing sacrifice. The story of Abraham and Isaac doesn't end at Mount Moriah. It points forward to a Father who actually did not hold back His Son, so that the rest of us could be brought into the family. The faith Abraham demonstrated was a reflection of what God Himself would one day do.

For reflection

Is there something in your life right now that feels like an Isaac — something you are holding tightly that God may be inviting you to release? What makes that difficult?

Pray

Pray for the grace to hold loosely what you treasure most, trusting the God who gave it and who gave even more for you.

Day 7

After six days of sitting with individual threads from this sermon, today is a good moment to let the whole picture come together. Romans 4:21-25 lands the entire argument: Abraham was fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised — and that faith was credited to him as righteousness. Then Paul makes the turn that changes everything for us: this was not written for Abraham alone. It was written for us too. The same faith that carried Abraham through impossible circumstances, through the long silence between promise and fulfillment, through the hill with his son, is the faith that is available to us right now. Because the resurrection is real. Jesus was delivered over for our failures and raised for our justification. That is the anchor the whole week points back to. Faith in the who is not an abstract spiritual principle — it is a living trust in a risen Jesus who has personally secured what no outcome or circumstance can undo. Pastor Bill's invitation through this whole sermon was really one simple thing: believe God, not just believe in God. Let that trust take root — in His Word, in your hard moments, in your daily choice to worship. That is the faith that doesn't waver, and you do not have to manufacture it alone. It grows as you draw close to the One it is placed in.

For reflection

Looking back over this week, what has shifted — even slightly — in where your faith is anchored? What is one thing you want to carry forward from this sermon?

Pray

Pray for faith that keeps growing — rooted in who God is, held steady by His Word, and expressed in worship through every season.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message looks at Abraham's life to ask a question worth sitting with: when faith gets tested, what exactly is it that we're trusting in?

Discussion questions

1
Romans 4:17 describes the God Abraham trusted as one who 'gives life to the dead and creates new things out of nothing.' What does that picture of God tell us about why Abraham's faith was placed in who God is rather than in a specific outcome he could predict?
2
Pastor Bill drew a distinction between believing God and simply believing in God. What do you think that difference actually looks like in everyday life — and why might it matter?
3
Romans 4:19 says Abraham didn't waver even though he was fully aware of his and Sarah's physical limitations. Pastor Bill described this as 'faithing the facts' rather than ignoring them. What does it mean for a person to acknowledge hard realities honestly without letting those realities become the final word?
4
Romans 4:20 says Abraham 'was strengthened in his faith and praised God.' Pastor Bill pointed to worship as a daily, deliberate choice that realigns the heart toward God when circumstances are pulling it down. How do you think worship actually does that work — what is it about glorifying God that changes the direction of a worried mind?
5
In Genesis 22, Abraham was willing to offer Isaac — the very gift through whom God's promises were supposed to come. Pastor Bill connected that moment to the question of whether our faith is in the who or the what. What does Abraham's willingness in that moment reveal about how deeply his trust had shifted from the promise to the Promise-Maker?
6
Pastor Bill's invitation across this message was to get into God's Word so we can actually know Him — not just know about Him — and to let God speak into the hard seasons, not only the highlight moments. What might it look like for a group like ours to support one another in doing both of those things?

Pray together

Trusting in who God is — His character, His Word, His faithfulness — over any outcome we're hoping for

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Go deeper

Continue the series

We Need a Little Christmas

Week 6 · 6 messages

Where these passages are preached

Romans 1 Romans 4 Hebrews 6 Daniel 3

Explore related topics

Abraham's Faith Faith Over Circumstances God's Word Trust in God Worship Over Worry

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