"Growing Faith"
I am going to talk about Faith today. I am pretty sure everyone here has
some faith in God otherwise you would not be here. Faith by definition is a
complete trust or confidence in someone or something, like I have faith in
Elizabeth that she will do everything possible to put this service online. Or
faith, could be a strong belief in God based on spiritual understanding rather
than proof.
One thing I read that I hadn’t really thought about before was that our faith
requires that we believe in God’s faithfulness. We need to believe that God
is there always. Comprehending God’s faithfulness is crucial to becoming a
person of faith.
Hebrews 10:23 says “Let us hold firmly to the hope we claim to have. The
God who promised is faithful.”
I hope you paid close attention to the words in the hymn “Great is Thy
Faithfulness” that Sue, Penny and Mike just sang. That hymn is based
Lamentations 3: 22-24 which says: “For his compassions never fail. They
are new every morning; great is your faithfulness”.
In the devotional, Our Daily Bread on January 18 th , it said, nothing else
compares to the value of something that will determine our eternal
destination: faith in Jesus, which is the only guarantee of receiving salvation
from our sins and new life in Him.
In December, I read a book about human behavior and the author, who is a
social science researcher, said he found, beginning between the ages of 40-
50, for some reason, faith or spirituality starts to nudge people. They get
more interested in faith and start to be more accepting of things they cannot
prove. The author does confess to be a devout Christian, but says he was
not trying to convert anyone and he found this was the case across many
religions and cultures. He goes on to say to practice faith requires time and
effort and this does compete with demands of our lives. I think we all can
relate to that. (Maybe that is why people beginning between their 40’s &
50’s start to pay attention to faith because they don’t have as many
parentings demands?) So, even though people want to develop their faith,
they often don’t find the time or take the time. He said the solution is to stop
seeing it as a side interest and make it a priority. He likened it to, if you
found out you had a serious health problem wouldn’t you find the time and
put a lot of effort in doing everything you could to make yourself healthy
again?
This really caught my attention and I thought God was sending me a
message to think about how to grow or develop faith and to share it with
you. We all know that our faith is very important to us.
So, I started my quest to see what I could find out about deepening faith.
One source I found, “In Touch Ministries” said there are three stages of faith.
First, there's little faith, which says, “I know He can but I'm not sure He
will.”
Second, as God proves Himself trustworthy, our faith grows and we
begin to focus more on Him than on our circumstances.
Thirdly, we should graduate to perfect faith, which says, “I believe what
God says, so I'm going to act upon that faith.
Which stage are you in? Which one do you want to be in? Maybe
sometimes we might waver between stages depending on our challenges. I
think it is a learning process. We are human and even the disciples wavered
at times and they had Jesus with them! We can strive for the perfect faith.
I did find Four steps to strengthen your faith suggested by - Family Life
Radio
Step #1. Regularly spend time in prayer and meditation.
Remembering what that book said about time, here are a few practical ideas
that might help you prioritize your time with God in prayer: I am not
suggesting you do all these things but if you can pick one or more and
modify them to your life it might be helpful. Some you may already be doing.
Schedule a specific time each day for prayer and meditation.
Wake up a little earlier to pray before starting your day. For me – I
sometimes take 5 minutes after waking just to talk to God before I get
up.
Take a few minutes to pray before a meal (not just over your food). It
does not have to be a grace –Maybe just the idea that it is time to eat
might just become a reminder or trigger for you to just take a minute to
pray.
Spending quiet time in prayer before bed
Utilize content, like what’s available in blogs, devotional books, prayer
apps or guided meditations to help you focus your thoughts and
connect with God.
I have prepared a list with the help from my friend, Susie West, for you
to hold onto to help you find some resources like that. Maybe keep it in
your Bible or somewhere easy to find. Let me go over them quickly.
Here in the church, we have the Our Daily Bread devotional which is
available for you to take. Kelly has mentioned she and Elizabeth like to
use the Bible app (see resource sheet) I forgot to add listening to
Christian music – like Sound of Life Radio. A great way to bring
worship into your everyday life even while you are doing somethings
else.
Take time to be quiet. Remember a couple weeks ago, the Voices
Three sang the song “Quiet”? One of the lines of the song says, “I’ll
just be quiet, let you speak through the silence.” How about finding a
few minutes - daily or maybe it’s only once in a while, when you try
to develop an awareness of the Holy Spirit’s presence in your life.
When the weather is better, maybe even incorporate it with a walk and
experience it in God’s surroundings. The author of the book I was
talking about suggested people set aside 15mins a day. He said it
might seem like a long time but once you practice for a while you will
want it to be longer. I haven’t tried it but if 15 mins seems impossible,
especially if you are a parent with children which need you all the time,
how about 5 mins or whatever you can manage.
Step #2. Consistently study and apply God’s Word.
Here are some practical ways to help you make Bible study and God’s
Word’s a priority:
Schedule your Bible reading on your calendar. Some of us have these
daily scripture or inspirational calendars. Very handy to have on a
counter or on a piece of furniture “in you view” so you can’t miss it and
can read it easily.
Maybe read a few verses or a chapter each day or follow a structured
reading plan. Our Daily Bread even has a Bible reading each day if
that is something one wants to follow. The Bible app puts a Bible verse
on your phone each day and it also has Bible reading plans.
Feel free to use tools like study Bibles, commentaries or join Bible
study groups as Jim said last week to help you better understand what
you’re reading. Not a group person? – many Bible study guides are
easily used independently. The Life Guide Study guides even have
some answers to the questions in the back.
Look for ways to apply what you learn and ask the Holy Spirit to help
you to live out the truths you discover.
Step #3. Engage in Christian community.
Here are a few ideas to engage in the Christian community:
Be open and accept opportunities to connect with other believers.
Participate in a small group.
Volunteer to help in a particular area or at a specific ministry.
Genuinely make an effort to build relationships with other Christians in
your workplace, neighborhood or social circles.
Look for ways to encourage and support others in their spiritual
journeys, praying for one another and sharing your struggles and
triumphs. Many of you participate in the Facebook Prayer Concerns
page which is a great way to get the word out for prayers.
I gave a ride to someone last week and she was telling me about the
wonderful Bible study she was in and the people in it that meant so
much to her. I was telling her about the one that I am in and that
someone from our group who hadn’t been there for a while due to her
job was able to come one day and she said how joyful it was to be
there, she hadn’t realized how much she missed us and that she said
our group was such a safe place. The rider said, “Exactly, it is such a
blessing to be among fellow Christians”. There’s just something one
gets from a Christian group of believers. Well, look at our church
family!
Step #4. Seek to serve others.
Jesus taught that we should love our neighbors as ourselves, and serving
others is an important way to put that love into action. By seeking out
opportunities to serve those in need, we can demonstrate the love of Christ
and grow in our own spiritual maturity.
Jim mentioned several ways to do that last week as well. I almost thought
he was going to do the same sermon and that I would have to start all over.
Here are some ideas.
Pay attention to the needs of those around you and look for ways to
meet them.
Volunteer at a local charity.
Visit someone who is sick or send a note or card.
Help a neighbor with a task.
Look for ways to be generous with your time, talents and resources.
Ask God to show you how you can bless others and show the love of
Christ.
One day recently I went to the Middletown Post Office when I got to the
door there was an older gentleman coming out with a cane so I held
the door open for him. He was wearing a baseball cap that said, “I love
Jesus”. When he came out, he said “thank you” and I said, “I love
Jesus, too”. He said, “You do? Well then this is for you and started
singing Zipidity do dah, Zipidity Ay, Jesus loves you & me every day!” -
He was finding a way to share his faith and the love of Christ with
others.
James 2:17 says – “So Faith by itself, if it has no works is dead”.
So, Why should we want to work at developing our faith or growing
faith? Not so we will receive extra rewards in heaven, not for a better
seat at His table, not for forgiveness, not to be his favorite or to be able to
sit at his left or right as a couple disciples wanted, not to be free of
challenges here on earth. God already loves us and accepts us. He has
already forgiven us by making the supreme sacrifice for us. We work on
growing our Faith for our own understanding. I think the more we know,
the more we want to know. We do it to have a deeper relationship with
God. To feel his presence, to hear him calling, to go when and where he
leads us. To be more Christlike. To learn how to be a better extension of
his love to all. Someone in our Bible study this week said, I just don’t
want to have Christ in my life, I want my life to be in Christ. Amen to that.
Let us pray, Lord please help us to know you more so our faith will continue to grow.
Amen