Brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning! Last week we talked about Miracle 101. That's when you graduate from being a hard-core atheist to maybe being an agnostic. The difference is that an atheist says, "I don't believe anything about God." And an agnostic says, "Maybe yes, maybe no," when it comes to God. But when you catch on to Miracle 101, all of life is this otherwise unexplainable miracle. We live in the midst of a miracle everyday. When you catch on to that, that's the first step of faith, and one becomes something called a deist. If one's only vision of faith is that of the natural world, that it deserves an explanation, that is called being a deist.

And then, if you take another step of faith, it's called being a theist. A theist is one who says, "Yes, there is a God, and God not only set the world in motion and created it, but God is present and makes Himself known to people." Theist religions include Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. They all look toward one God and say that God deserves to be praised.

But still that doesn't make us Christians. I want to talk with you today about that next step of becoming a Christian. I want to tell you a story about a man, let's call him Pete, whom I heard about this week. I believe that God blessed me with the gentleman who told me about this story.

Pete was an atheist and a scientist, a very, bright man. Pete liked the idea of sparring verbally with people. He liked taking apart people's reasoning about their faith. He enjoyed that. Pete had one problem in his atheistic pursuit. He kept running into these people called Christians, and every time he ran into a Christian he had a problem. He liked to debate with them and spar with them and take apart their arguments, and sometimes he felt like he succeeded, but not entirely, because Christians kept bouncing back. He liked to tease people who were Christians. He liked to make life hard for them.

He was a very rich guy; his family owned a home in New Canaan , Connecticut , high up on a hill. He owned a fancy car and an airplane. Once, he took his college roommate, Harry, who was one of his Christian friends, for a ride in the plane, and he did some crazy stunts just to scare the guy, just to rattle him. But Christians, people who are committed to Jesus Christ, people who had taken that extra step, who like Peter in the Gospel had said, "Jesus, you are the Lord," had a certain bounce-back ability which Pete did not understand.

One day, Pete called to his roommate, Harry. "Harry, come here."

"What is it, Pete?"

"Harry, I want you to do a favor for me. I want you to tell me in plain language – no holy talk, no Bible verse, no big religious words, no salvation, none of that – what it is that keeps you being a Christian?"

And Harry did a wise thing. He said, "Pete, why? Why are you doing this?" Harry had had his fill of verbal chess games.

And Pete said a very interesting thing: "In my home in New Canaan , up on the hill, there's a driveway that goes up to the house. I like to go up that driveway and kick stones. I like to see how far I can kick them. Maybe that's what I do with people sometimes. But you know what, Harry? Sometimes I come to a stone that I cannot kick, no matter how often I try or how hard I try, I can't kick it. And I'm thinking this – when I come to a stone that will not move, I figure it must be connected to something very deep, and I want to know about it."

Wow! Think about the image in that young fellow's mind, about the stone coming up out of the ground, connected to a great big glacial boulder underneath. That, my friends, is what Christian faith is like.

Where are you today? Where is your faith? Is it kind of an independent thing that can get kicked around by this idea or that, by this circumstance or that? Oh, my dear friends, I have a prayer for each and every one of you. I pray that you would take hold of the rock that will not move, that you would know that your faith is not something that can be pushed around or swayed or buffeted, but that you are connected to the rock which is Jesus Christ, and that can make all the difference. That can make all the transformation for you.

Jesus does amazing things in people's lives. You don't have to be perfect. You don't have to be mistake-free for the rest of your life. Look at Peter! Jesus said, "You're the rock." Tu es Petros. "You are the rock. Upon this rock of faith I will build my church." Peter went on to make some mistakes. But the difference for Peter is that, ultimately, he never let go of the rock, the rock that will not be moved, the rock that is Jesus Christ.

What do you get when you reach out for Jesus? What do you get when you ask Him to be your Lord and Savior? What do you get when you take hold of the rock that will not move? Let me tell you, my friend. First, you get strength, you get grounding, you get a foundation. No matter what winds come your way or what tough things come in your life, you are attached to the rock that will not move, and that is your solid faith. Do you know people like that? I've been blessed to know people like that, people in this church.

My mom – now there's a woman who lived a hard life. She went through two very rough marriages. She lost two children, my brother at 15, my sister at 32. And yet, when people asked her how many children she had, she'd always smile and answer, "The Lord has left me two." She was never bitter. She always looked to the Lord for help and blessing, and she raised me to do so, too. Do you know people like that? Maybe it's you. Oh, friend, if you are attached to the rock that will not move, the circumstances of life may bump you around, but they will not leave you without your foundation.

Second, you'll have a friend, always, in Jesus Christ. He said, "I will be with you always," in all circumstances, at all times. That's part of holding on to the rock.

And third, you have the promise of everlasting life. You have the blessed assurance.  I don't go around saying what will happen to people in the afterlife if they aren't Christians. That's for the Lord to decide, in His mercy. And His mercy is great. But I'll tell you what – you have the blessed assurance of Jesus, who said, "Where I am, you also will be." Strength for the tough things, companionship through your life, and the blessed assurance of life everlasting – wow! If you can find a better deal, take it, but I don't know of a better deal than that.

Dear friend, my prayer for you is that you would go forth into this week, no matter what life sends you, knowing that you are connected to the rock that cannot move, the rock that is Jesus Christ, our Lord. God loves you. I do, too. Have a wonderful week. Amen.