Faith Changes Us: Getting Out of the Way So God Can Work
Sermon Thread: God is not done with you.
30-Second Sermon Summary: Faith changes us by teaching us to step back, loosen our grip on ego, and make room for God to work. In a culture that celebrates individual achievement, Jesus calls us toward a life shaped by service, humility, and trust. What looks dormant is not always dead. God is still forming us, still moving through New Spirit, and still growing fruit for the sake of others.
It is easy to measure worth by what someone produces. Sports trains us to look for the star player. Social media trains us to look for the biggest platform. Even church life can tempt us to chase the largest crowd, the most impressive program, or the most visible success.
But faith changes us. Faith does not leave us trapped in the exhausting work of proving ourselves. Faith teaches us to step back, loosen our grip, and trust that God can do more with an open heart than we can do with a clenched fist.
God is not done with you.
View the worship service this sermon is from here: June 21, 2026 Worship Livestream
Why We Focus on the Star Player
Pastor Hartman began with sports. Michael Jordan, Deion Sanders, Messi, Ronaldo, and the great teams built around unforgettable names all show us something about how our culture works. We love the larger-than-life figure. We love the person who seems able to carry the whole team.
Yet teams built around one person become fragile. If that person is injured, distracted, or simply having an off day, everything starts to shake. The same thing can happen in our own hearts. When life becomes all about our achievement, our preferences, our reputation, or our control, we become fragile too.
Jesus calls us into something more durable than ego. He calls us into a life rooted in grace, formed by faith, and turned outward in love.
Faith Changes Us
New Spirit’s third core value says, “Faith Changes Us.” That phrase matters because faith is not simply an idea we keep in our heads. Faith is trust in the living God, and that trust changes how we see ourselves, our neighbors, and the work set before us.
Faith says, “Put the ego to the side.” Not because our hopes do not matter, and not because growth or faithful ambition is wrong. Faith redirects us. It asks us to hold our plans loosely enough that God can reshape them for the good of others.
This is deeply Lutheran. We are saved by grace, not by our striving. We are freed from proving our worth so that we can love and serve. Grace comes first, and then faith becomes active in love.
Dormant Is Not Dead
Pastor Hartman used the image of the fig tree to name something many of us need to hear: dormant is not dead. A tree may look bare for a season. Soil may need rest. A ministry may go quiet. A person may feel like their best fruit is behind them. But God is not limited by what looks finished to us.
God is not done with you.
That is a word of hope for individuals and for congregations. New Spirit is not growing because of one person’s strategy or one personality’s charisma. The Spirit is moving through the whole body of Christ. God is working through quilters, knitters, servants, children, elders, newcomers, and people who once thought they wanted nothing to do with church.
The Spirit Works Through Ordinary People
A quilting group that some thought might quietly fade has become a place where the Holy Spirit is clearly moving. A ten-year-old receiving cancer treatment is bringing handmade quilts to other children in the hospital. A man who might never have pictured himself knitting is making dozens of hats a week for people who need warmth and care.
These are not small stories. They are signs of vocation. Vocation means God works through ordinary people in ordinary places to care for the world. You do not need a spotlight for your life to bear fruit. You need an open heart, willing hands, and trust that God can use what you offer.
Amazing Grace and Real Transformation
The story behind “Amazing Grace” reminds us that transformation is possible even when the past is painful. John Newton was involved in the slave trade. That part of his life should not be softened or celebrated. Yet God did not leave him there. Grace confronted him, redirected him, and moved him toward work that resisted the evil he had once served.
That is not cheap grace. That is grace that changes a life. In Christ, the old passes away and the new comes. The gospel does not erase truth, but it does open a future where repentance, repair, and new life are possible.
Conclusion: Step Back and Make Room
The question this week is simple, but it is not easy: where do you need to step out of the way and let God change you so that God can work through you for others?
Each day this week, name one place where you are holding tightly to control, preference, ego, or fear. Pray, “God, make room in me for your Spirit,” and then take one small action that serves someone else instead of protecting your own agenda.
You do not have to force fruit to grow. You are invited to make room for the One who gives growth. Faith changes us, not into people who disappear, but into people who are free enough to serve. Dormant is not dead. Your story is not over. God is not done with you.
