Do You Have A Life-Changing Faith?

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• When you start to reflect on your faith, there is a very important question we need to always answer.

• Do you have a Life-Changing Faith? Or in other words, “Is Jesus making a difference in your life?”

• The answer to this question is important because the answer to this question will tell you where you are at with Jesus and just how important He really is to you.

• This message is not intended to beat anyone down; it is meant to challenge us to soar to greater heights with our great God.

• Individually, we must all decide how much we are going to let Jesus be our Lord, we all have to determine if we are going to totally give ourselves over to Him or are we just going to scratch the surface and be happy with that.

• Where we all are individually with Jesus will determine where we are as a church with Jesus.

• As we look at Colossians 1:3-8 this morning, I want us to examine five questions pertaining to our faith. The way we answer these simple questions will give us an idea as to if we have a Life-Changing faith.

• If we find we are struggling in that area, I hope examining the questions will help us to achieve the Life-Changing Faith I believe we all strive to have!

• Let us begin with verses 3-4

• SLIDE #2

• Colossians 1:3-4(ESV) 3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,

• The first question we want to examine is…

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

I. Is Jesus the foundation of your faith?

• I love the way this letter starts out. It starts with Paul in verse 2 saying that he is writing to the FAITHFUL brethren at Colossae. Then he moves to telling the readers he is thankful for them and that he is praying for them always.

• Then he moves to what he is thankful for.

• He is thankful that he has heard of their faith in Jesus.

• When you think about it, this is an impressive statement. The faith of the Church at Colossae is so great that it is known all around.

• Notice too that their faith is in Jesus; it is centered and based on Him.

• Their faith in Jesus made such an impact on the lives of those in the church that they gained a reputation for their faith.

• I wonder what people would say about the church as they walked around Colossae?

• I wonder what people say about the First Christian Church as people walk or drive by?

• If we have a life-changing faith, we will be known for our faith in Jesus.

• Jesus will make a significant difference in our lives when our faith is centered on Jesus.

• I have seen too many people over the years play the church game. We can get so caught up in things to the point that Jesus is not really the center of our faith. For many the center of their faith is the status quo, it is their jobs, family or entertainment.

• Paul was not thankful for the church at Colossae because they had a nice building? He was not faithful because they sang a certain type of music or had a certain order of service, he was thankful for them in part because of their faith in Jesus!

• Faith means in part to trust. Who do you trust? Whose hands do you really put your salvation? Who do you turn to in times of trouble? Who do you give the glory to when things go well?

• The way you answer these questions will tell you where your faith is centered.

• If Jesus is the center of your faith, your life will be different. I hope that our church is known for our faith. That will not ever happen unless two things happen.

• First, our faith has to be evident in our lives and secondly we need to be involved in the lives of other people so they can see our faith in action.

• This leads to our second question to ponder.

• SLIDE #4

II. Is your love for others growing?

• The second thing Paul is thankful for is the love the church had for the brethren and for all the Saints (Christians)!

• Do you have a life-changing faith? Is Jesus making a difference in your life?

• If Jesus is the center of your faith, it will manifest itself in how much love you have for your brothers and sisters in Christ. It will be evident by the love you have for people in general.