Crazy Faith

Crazy Faith Overview

In this powerful message from NTC Ministries, Pastor William challenges believers to move beyond self-preservation and into a lifestyle of bold, others-centered faith. Drawing on Philippians 2:4, Galatians 6:10, 1 John 3:16-18, and Matthew 20:28, he unpacks what he calls crazy faith — a trust in God so genuine that it compels ordinary people to take extraordinary steps of obedience for the sake of others. Delivered on April 2, 2020, in the middle of a global pandemic, the message is both timely and timeless. Pastor William shares vivid personal stories: working for free in the freezing Michigan woods to reach a struggling man who eventually gave his life to Christ, giving away a car while owning none himself, and hiking four miles down a steep mountain to baptize new believers in a remote village. He also reflects on Oskar Schindler, the Twin Towers evacuation, and the danger of a fear-driven, hoarding mentality. The sermon calls every listener to recognize that selflessness is not just a spiritual ideal but the very engine of God’s kingdom advancement — and the surest path to personal blessing, promotion, and acceleration in life.

Crazy Faith Outline

• 00:00 – Welcome and Opening Prayer: The service opens with a greeting from NTC Ministries, a time of corporate worship, and a prayer inviting the Holy Spirit to move in every heart tuned in.
• 08:30 – Introducing Crazy Faith: Pastor William explains how a conversation with a fellow minister sparked this message, and why what others call crazy faith is simply the normal faith every believer should walk in.
• 14:00 – Fear Versus Faith in a Crisis: Using examples from the COVID-19 pandemic — hoarded masks, doctors evicted in India, insider trading senators — Pastor William contrasts the destructive fruit of fear with the liberating power of love-driven faith.
• 22:30 – The Foundation: Thinking of Others: A deep dive into Philippians 2:4 and Galatians 6:10 establishes the theological core: genuine faith expresses itself through selfless action toward all people, especially the household of faith.
• 31:00 – Oskar Schindler and the Cost of Selflessness: The story of Schindler’s List illustrates how a self-serving man discovered that protecting others ultimately saved himself, echoing Isaac Stern’s quote that whoever saves one life saves the entire world.
• 39:00 – A Personal Testimony From the Michigan Woods: Pastor William recounts working without pay for over a month in brutal winter conditions for a struggling logger, who eventually surrendered his life to Christ and saw his marriage restored.
• 48:30 – Jesus as the Ultimate Model of Selflessness: Matthew 20:28 grounds the message in Christ’s own example: the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and humility before God always precedes exaltation.
• 55:00 – Twin Towers and the Power of Reaching Out: The story of Brian and Stanley escaping the South Tower on September 11 demonstrates that those who stop to help others are the ones God brings through — survival and selflessness are inseparable.
• 1:02:00 – Activation: Step Out and Lose Your Life to Find It: Pastor William draws on Matthew 16:25 and his mountain baptism experience in a remote village to call every listener to step out of comfort, lose the familiar life, and trust God for the impossible.
• 1:06:00 – Closing Prayer and Ministry for Healing: The sermon closes with a prayer of release over chronic physical, emotional, and relational conditions, and an encouragement to remain faithful in generosity and community.

Scripture References

Philippians 2:4, Galatians 6:10, 1 John 3:16-18, Matthew 20:28, Colossians 1, Matthew 16:25

Key Takeaways

• Crazy faith is simply normal biblical faith expressed through selfless obedience — it only looks extreme because so few believers are willing to start with even simple faith.
• Fear drives people inward toward hoarding and self-protection, but perfect love casts out fear and empowers believers to think of others even in the middle of a crisis.
• Galatians 6:10 is a standing command: whenever an opportunity to do good arises, seize it — because missed opportunities are lost kingdom moments.
• Selflessness is not spiritual naivety but a kingdom strategy — those who look to the needs of others consistently find that God looks after their own needs in return.
• Jesus is the ultimate model of self-giving faith, willingly leaving the throne of heaven to serve his creation, and every believer is called to imitate that same downward posture of love.
• Stepping out in faith — even into inconvenience, discomfort, or financial sacrifice — activates the kingdom of God in ways that passive belief never can, because faith without works is dead.
• When believers lose the comfortable, self-centered life for the sake of others, they discover the richest, most purposeful life available — the very life Jesus promised in Matthew 16:25.

Crazy Faith Notes

Crazy Faith Rooted in Selflessness

Pastor William’s central thesis is that what the world labels crazy faith is really the baseline expression of a life fully surrendered to God. The message begins not with dramatic miracles but with a quiet commitment to think of others first. Philippians 2:4 sets the tone: do not be interested only in your own life but care about the lives of others too. This orientation — away from self and toward neighbor — is what unlocks the supernatural. Without it, even sincere believers can spend their entire lives confined to a religious routine that never touches the kingdom of God in any meaningful way.

Fear Paralyzes, But Love Propels

One of the most striking sections of this message contrasts the behavior of fear-driven people during the COVID-19 crisis with the behavior of faith-driven believers. Pastor William points to hoarded medical masks, landlords evicting exhausted doctors, and senators committing insider trading as vivid illustrations of how fear reduces people to their worst instincts. First John 4 reminds us that perfect love casts out all fear, and this sermon applies that truth practically: when a believer is genuinely saturated in the love of God, the instinct to hoard and self-protect is replaced by a courageous impulse to help, give, and reach out.

A Michigan Winter and a Changed Marriage

Among the most compelling illustrations in this message is the story of Pastor William working without pay through a bitter Michigan winter for a man he barely knew. Laid off from his own job and prompted by God during morning prayer, he drove out to the woods, found the young logger in tears on a stump, and simply worked alongside him for over a month. The man gave his life to Christ, his marriage was restored, and he later showed up at Pastor William’s door with a check for a third of the job’s earnings. What felt like inconvenience to the pastor was, in God’s economy, an irreplaceable divine appointment.

Schindler and the Twin Towers Principle

Two powerful historical illustrations anchor the message’s theme. First, Oskar Schindler discovered that his initially selfish decision to protect Jewish workers ultimately saved over a thousand lives — and the gold ring inscription summarizes the sermon’s heart: whoever saves one life saves the world entire. Second, the story of Brian and Stanley escaping the South Tower on September 11 shows that Brian’s decision to leave the group to help a crying stranger in the debris was the very choice that brought them both out alive. Those who stopped to help others survived; those who ran for the roof to save themselves did not.

Losing Your Life to Find It

Pastor William closes with Matthew 16:25 as both a promise and a challenge. Losing your life for Christ does not mean physical martyrdom in most cases — it means surrendering the comfortable, predictable, self-protecting life in order to follow God into what he is asking. This includes working for free, giving away a car you need yourself, hiking four miles down a steep mountain in a foreign country, or forgiving someone who does not deserve it. Each of these acts of surrender becomes a doorway to acceleration, promotion, and the unleashing of heaven’s resources on behalf of those who choose to live as bond-slaves of love.

Faith Without Works Remains Dormant

Citing James’s declaration that faith without works is dead, Pastor William pushes back against a passive Christianity that believes the right doctrines but never acts on them. The kingdom of heaven, he argues, is only activated by faith expressed in action. Jesus could do few miracles in towns where people had no faith, but where faith was present the sick were healed, the hungry were fed, and the lost were found. Every believer has gifts, time, talent, and opportunities that can be deployed for others — and the sermon’s final exhortation is simply this: when God shows you a need and prompts you to meet it, do not reason, do not negotiate the cost, just do it.

Frequently Asked Questions