Christian Atheist: Part 4 - "But Don't Trust Him Fully" with Chris Beall - LifeChurch.tv

Trust God With Everything

Scripture References

Primary text

• Proverbs 3:5-6
• Mark 9:22

Other references

• Deuteronomy 9
• Psalm 100:3-5
• Hebrews 11

Overview

Week four of “Christian Atheist” exposes the place most believers get stuck: we believe in God yet still run parts of our lives as if He doesn’t exist. Pastor Craig introduces the theme, then Pastor Chris Beal walks through why control is so hard to release and how wholehearted trust—​not partial surrender—​opens the way for God’s direction and peace. Using Proverbs 3:5-6 as the anchor, the message calls listeners to identify one area they still grip and take a concrete step of surrender within 48 hours.

Main Points

A Partially Surrendered Life

• A Christian atheist = believes God exists but lives like He doesn’t.
• Common control-zones: TV remote, restaurant choice, driving, finances, kids, calendar.
  • Story: Chris’s obsession with researching every purchase—​Consumer Reports stacks, refusing to let family buy anything until he has found “the best deal.”
• Deuteronomy 9 reminds Israel they missed God’s best because they “did not trust Him or obey Him.” The same partial trust still robs us today.

The Cost of Control

• We willingly give God Sundays or morning devotion yet keep nightlife, money, career, or children’s futures to ourselves.
• Holding back creates a brick wall in spiritual growth; you cannot step into God’s purpose while white-knuckling your own agenda.

Calling Out Your Un-trusted Area

• Prompt: “I don’t fully trust God with __________.”
• Honesty is the doorway to liberation; write it down.

Wholehearted Trust — Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart… in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

• Chris’s mock “PSV—Partially Surrendered Version” changes “all” to “some” to show how we really live.
• Key word “submit/acknowledge” = Hebrew yada — to know intimately by experience, like Adam knew Eve. Trust flows from relationship, not information.

Faith Comes Before Proof

• We often demand guarantees: “Bless me first, then I’ll tithe / obey / step out.” Scripture reverses it—faith precedes God’s miraculous work.
  • Illustration: Charles Blondin crossing Niagara Falls with a wheelbarrow; spectators believed he could push a person, but no one was willing to climb in.
  • Illustration: An African impala can jump 10 ft high and 30 ft long yet is kept behind a 3-ft wall because it refuses to leap where it can’t see the landing. We do the same with God.
• Hebrews 11: without faith it is impossible to please God.

When You Step Out

• Take one surrender step within 48 hours; when you do, you discover:
  1. God’s goodness (“the LORD is good” — Psalm 100)
  2. God’s love (“His love endures forever”)
  3. God’s faithfulness (“continues through all generations”)
• Enter His gates with thanksgiving because surrendered lives become living sacrifices that experience these attributes daily.

Pastoral Vulnerability

• Story: Chris admits gripping leadership of the OKC campus—​double-checking staff work, believing he is indispensable. Staff feedback revealed a control lid; he’s learning to release the church to God and other leaders.

Prayer of the Struggling Father

Mark 9:22-24 models the honest posture God honors:

“I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.”

This becomes the congregation’s prayer for every unsurrendered area.

Key Truths

• Partial surrender limits God’s work; wholehearted trust releases His guidance.
• Faith is not waiting for proof; faith is the choice that invites proof.
• Intimate knowledge of God (yada) makes risk reasonable.
• Whatever you refuse to trust God with becomes your personal ceiling.
• God’s goodness, love, and faithfulness are experienced, not merely studied, on the other side of surrender.

Response

• Identify and write the specific area you still control.
• Pray the father’s prayer: “I believe; help my unbelief” over that area.
• Within 48 hours, take a tangible action that hands the issue to God (e.g., tithe, confess, delegate, seek help, apologize).
• Replace daily self-reliance with daily yada — time observing, reflecting, and experiencing God.
• Enter every day with thanksgiving, rehearsing His goodness, love, and faithfulness.

Closing

Pastor Chris ended by lifting hands across the room—​a physical sign of inner surrender—​and inviting anyone living a “Christian atheist” life to yield completely to Jesus. Salvation, he said, is not feeling bad about last weekend; it is handing every part of life to the One who died and rose for you.

“All that I am, I surrender to You.”

Many responded, and the church erupted in celebration of lives moved from partial to total trust.

Prayer

The congregation prayed together, thanking God for His Word, asking for faith where unbelief still lives, and surrendering every area—​finances, family, future, and hidden sin—​to Jesus’ Lordship, inviting the Holy Spirit to fill them for lifelong obedience.