Today, we need to talk about one of the MOST IMPORTANT aspects of the CHRISTIAN FAITH
Today’s big question:
What is FAITH?
- Faith is talked about all the time
- Been saying “Christian Faith”
Main Goal today:
- 1 – Defining/Clarifying/understanding TRUE FAITH
- 2 – Learning how Faith GROWS
1: Understanding TRUE FAITH
Let’s start with what faith is NOT
Faith is NOT:
- Magic
- Doesn’t happen by wishing for harder
- Not something we can “produce”
No wonder we have these misunderstandings:
- Name it and claim it
- God didn’t come through because you lacked faith
Many believe that faith is something that only SOME truly have while others are severely lacking
- Like it is an ACHIEVEMENT
>>Some of you have really struggled because you don’t thing you have ENOUGH FAITH
- Compare yourself to others who you think have MORE FAITH
That is not what the Bible teaches about faith
Let me start with an illustration first…
Whenever I throw this in the air, it ALWAYS comes back down
- Because gravity is a LAW
We build/anticipate/TRUST in this law
- No one is worried about floating to the sky in the morning
That is what faith is…
- The foundation of Christian Faith is TRUST in GOD
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.
>Reality
>Proof
- Nothing about wishing, magic, summoning, or claiming
As a Christian, your FAITH (trust) should be in this…
Foundation of Faith:
God Exists
God is Good
I can trust His plan for me
Some quick references:
God exists:
Hebrews 11:6
Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
God is good:
Psalms 145:9
The Lord is good to everyone; his compassion rests on all he has made.
I can Trust His Plan for me:
Jeremiah 29:11
11 For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
We need to MOVE our understanding of faith from Hoping/Wishing to that of TRUSTING
- Trusting who God is
- His promise
- How Character
- His Goodness
Faith is not about STRONG people but about WEAK people with faith in a STRONG GOD
That’s why Paul said…
2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.”
To prove this, let’s look at Abraham
- The Father of FAITH
Abraham:
- Doubts God repeatedly
- He takes matters into his own hand – to great disaster
- Often lives in fear
Yet, God still chose HIM as the Father of FAITH
- WHY?
Hebrews 11
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
We have had faith backward…
Faith is trusting God to act on our behalf, not behaving in such a way that forces God to move and grant our wishes
We build our life on this fact and live it like we like the law of gravity
3 FAITH scenarios:
Scenario 1:
Faith and Forgiveness
Jesus says this about forgiveness
Mark 11:25
25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.”
Forgiveness sounds easy until you’ve had someone hurt you
- They took something from that you can’t get back
- Time
- Innocents
- Stuff
It takes FAITH to forgive
What is faith? — TRUST
Trust that God is Good
- His JUSTICE is good
- His PLAN is good
We have a “GET” with faith mentality, but instead it should be a “GIVE” with faith
- Get what we want
- Instead, Give what is needed
- For us and others
Scenario 2:
Faith and Healing
What is the foundation of Faith?
- God Exists
- He is Good
- I can trust His plan for me
Allows us to trust that:
- God wants to bring ORDER to the brokenness of sin in our world.
We pray in trust and anticipation
- For God to Heal and restore order
- To undo the broken nature of the situation and world
Ultimately Healing is up to God — Trust is up to us
- The healing is up to God, not our ability to wish, belief, hope, cry, and over-emotionalize the healing to so to CONVINCE God to move on our behalf
- You will be done, and kingdom come
Scenario 3:
Faith and Tithing
Tithing = Giving back to God what is ACTUALLY HIS
- We can give away what we worked so hard
God says that:
- Money can be our master
- Love of it is the root of all kinds of evil
We can have faith (trust) that God will bless our finances, not because he now owes us, but because we step into his kingdom design of Generosity.
- God is Good
- He is generous
- He will take care of his children
- He gives more to those who have been faithful with little
Being faithless with little is demonstrating WEAK FAITH
Strong faith is giving freely, TRUSTING that God will take care of his people
That leads us to our Application of Faith…
2: How to Grow Your Faith
Growing faith in God is ultimately growing in your trust in God
Here’s a really important question:
- How do you trust someone you don’t know?
Trust is an active word:
For faith to grow, you must desire and pursue understanding God’s character and knowing him more personally
Matthew 7
24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.”
Build your life on the ROCK that is this truth…
Foundation of Faith:
God Exists
God is Good
I can trust His plan for me