Crazy Faith Bible Study Guide plus Streaming Video

It’s Only Crazy Until It Happens

Michael Todd

• Publisher: HarperChristian Resources
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN: 9780310159339
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Stay far away from normal when it comes to matters of faith.

Will you be remembered as a person who claimed to follow God but liked to play it safe? Or as a person who lived your life out on the limb and trusted God enough to act with crazy faith?

In this five-session video Bible study (video streaming included), bestselling author and pastor Michael Todd reveals how to step out in faith and dive into the purposeful life of trusting God for the impossible.

There are many things that seem normal today that at one point in time seemed crazy. History-making inventions that started out as crazy ideas. People who risked everything to stand up for what they believed. But our see-it-to-believe-it generation tends to have a hard time exercising true faith—one that steps out, takes action, and sees mountain-moving results. Many of us would rather play it safe and stand on the sidelines. But it's crazy faith that helps us see God move and reveals his promises.

This study guide has everything you need for a full Bible study experience, including:

• An individual access code to stream all five video sessions online (you don't need to buy a DVD!).
• The study guide itself—with discussion and reflection questions, video notes, and a leader's guide.
• Video notes and a comprehensive structure for group discussion time.

Sessions and run times include:

1. Starting Out (Baby Faith and Maybe Faith) (18:00)
2. Getting Stronger (Waiting Faith and Wavy Faith) (17:30)
3. Obstacles to Avoid (Lazy Faith and Fugazi Faith) (16:00)
4. Moving to the Next Level (Trading Faith and Stating Faith) (18:00)
5. Finishing Strong (Fading Faith and Saving Faith) (18:30)

Even if we have to start with baby faith or maybe faith, we can become empowered to let go of our lazy faith, trust God through our hazy faith, and learn to live a lifestyle of crazy faith.

Streaming video access code included. Access code subject to expiration after 12/31/2027. Code may be redeemed only by the recipient of this package. Code may not be transferred or sold separately from this package. Internet connection required. Void where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Additional offer details inside.

WELCOME

As I write these words, scientists at NASA are working on a three-month plan to align eighteen different hexagonal mirrors that make up the James Webb Space Telescope. It’s an ambitious project. In fact, it’s the kind of project that many people would call crazy.

One of the things that makes the James Webb Space Telescope so impressive is its location. While the familiar Hubble Telescope takes pictures from orbit around our own planet, the James Webb Space Telescope is in orbit around the sun. In fact, it’s out there doing its thing all by itself in deep space—more than a million miles away from the earth. Something else that sets the telescope apart is its heat shield. The telescope’s delicate instruments are designed to pick up the smallest heat or infrared signature out in the farthest reaches of the universe. For that reason, it has to be kept incredibly cold . . . which is a problem because it is directly exposed to the rays of the sun.

So, scientists constructed a heat shield on the back of the telescope to block out that solar energy. As NASA has said, “The temperature difference between the hot and cold sides of the telescope is huge. You could almost boil water on the hot side, and you could freeze nitrogen on the cold side!”¹

Once it is fully operational, the telescope will be able to look pretty much anywhere in the vast expanse of space—including the dust-filled heart of nebulae where new exoplanets are forming. The telescope’s highly specialized instruments will also be on the lookout for water and other signs of life currently hidden among distant solar systems. And the telescope might even be able to assist in dating the age of stars.²

Now, it’s crazy to think about a group of scientists here on earth accessing such a complicated telescope from a million miles away—and then using it to seek out answers to our biggest questions about space and life and what might exist in this universe other than ourselves. Yet it’s happening. Right now. Right this moment.

But of course . . . it didn’t happen overnight. The plans that led to the James Webb Telescope didn’t materialize out of thin air. They were not the product of anyone’s spontaneous idea. Rather, scientists took baby steps and set small goals to reach their larger crazy goals. They didn’t always have the information they needed to guarantee their next step would lead to success. Sometimes, they had to take “maybe” steps.

We’re going to take the same approach when it comes to learning about Crazy Faith. In this session, we’re starting where the scientists did by exploring the important steps of baby faith and maybe faith. In other words, we’re going to start small together before we go big.

SHARE

If you or any of your group members are just getting to know one another, take a few minutes to introduce yourselves. Then, to kick things off, discuss one of the following questions:

• When have you seen something happen in your life or reached a goal that at first you thought was too crazy to achieve?

— or —

• What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about the concept of faith?

READ

Invite someone to read aloud the following passage. Listen for fresh insights as you hear the verses being read, and then discuss the questions that follow.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

HEBREWS 11:1–3

How does this passage add to your understanding of what faith is and why it’s important?

[Your Response Here]

What are some ways that each of us demonstrate faith in our everyday lives?

[Your Response Here]

WATCH

Watch the video segment for session one. (Play the DVD or see the instructions on the inside front cover on how to access the sessions through streaming.) As you and your group watch, use the following outline to record any thoughts or concepts that stand out to you.

God wants you to have Crazy Faith—to not just be one who sits on the sidelines but who steps out in Crazy Faith, against all odds, and does what may not make complete sense but will make a miracle.

[Your Response Here]

The faith journey starts with baby faith. Now, most of us don’t like to do anything small. But the truth is that baby faith is perhaps the most important step in starting your journey of faith.

[Your Response Here]

Your imagination unlocked could start a Crazy Faith journey that will change your family, your ideas, and who you are and how you impact others forever. Unlocking your imagination is the beginning of taking baby steps of faith.

[Your Response Here]

A mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds in the world. But God says with that little bit of small faith, you can have mountain-moving faith. So take a baby step and see what God can do with something small.

[Your Response Here]

God is trying to get you out of your comfort zone into what could be called the “gray zone,” “crazy zone,” or—most commonly known to people of Crazy Faith—the “grace zone.” This journey you are on has some maybes attached to it. You will not always be 100% sure of what will happen if you make a move, but all you need is 51% to take that first step.

[Your Response Here]

You don’t have to understand everything to be obedient. You can step out in maybe faith. Faith begins where understanding ends. It may not always make sense to you, but it can always make a miracle.

[Your Response Here]

Here is the faith formula: “intellectual agreement + trust = faith.” Intellectual agreement is the knowledge that something is true as acquired through teaching and experience. Trust, however, is reliance on what you know is true. Unless you have both . . . you don’t have faith.

[Your Response Here]

Everything you want to see in your life can happen as you step out in baby faith and maybe faith. So don’t stop now! Keep moving forward and allow God to show you who you can be. He knows exactly what is best for you, and he knows what you need.

[Your Response Here]

DISCUSS

As you consider what you just watched, use the following questions to discuss these ideas, their basis in Scripture, and their application in your life with your group members.

1. Think about the statement, “It’s only crazy until it happens.” What are some examples from your life that support that claim? When has God called you to do something crazy?

[Your Response Here]

2. Read Ephesians 3:14–21. What would you like God to accomplish in your life that is “immeasurably more” than you feel comfortable asking or imagining?

[Your Response Here]

3. Crazy Faith is “having thoughts and actions that lack reason but trusting fully in what you cannot explicitly prove.” Who have you seen demonstrate that kind of faith?

[Your Response Here]

4. How would you summarize the concept of baby faith? What are some baby steps of faith that you have taken in the past few months?

[Your Response Here]

5. How would you summarize the concept of maybe faith? When are times you stepped out in faith even though you were not 100% sure of the outcome?

[Your Response Here]

6. Read Genesis 12:1–9. What are some ways that Abram demonstrated the different kinds of faith that we have discussed in this session?

[Your Response Here]

RESPOND

Briefly review the outline for the video teaching and any notes you took. Write down your responses to these two questions: (1) What can I do this week that would show baby faith? (2) What can I do this week that would show maybe faith?

[Your Response Here]

PRAY

One of the most important things you can do together in community is to pray for one another. This is not simply a closing prayer to end your group time but a portion of time to share prayer requests, review how God has answered past prayers, and actually pray for one another. So, as you close your time together, thank God for his gift of faith—for the gift of being able t...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Streaming Video Access
• Ebook Instructions
• Contents
• Introduction
• How to Use This Guide
• Session 1: Starting Out (Baby Faith and Maybe Faith)
• Session 2: Getting Stronger (Waiting Faith and Wavy Faith)
• Session 3: Obstacles to Avoid (Lazy Faith and Fugazi Faith)
• Session 4: Moving to the Next Level (Trading Faith and Stating Faith)
• Session 5: Finishing Strong (Fading Faith and Saving Faith)
• Leader’s Guide
• Endnotes