Faith And Your Everyday Life

We hear of faith preached, we are taught about faith, and we speak of faith. I want us to dig deeper into the subject of faith this morning to see how faith impacts our daily lives. When we become a Christian, God gives us a measure of faith. Jesus reminded us that it doesn't take a lot of faith to move mountains.

In 1994, I surrendered to God's call on my life to become a pastor. I didn't have the money to go to seminary. I definitely didn't think I had the time to attend the seminary. But I surrendered it all to the Lord and had faith that He could make it all happen. And He did. It wasn't easy to turn it all over to God. I wanted to do everything that I could do to make it happen. But I trusted the Lord and through faith it all came about.

In 1997, this church made the decision that we needed a larger sanctuary. I can’t say that it was easy trying to convince the congregation to rely upon our faith in God to make it happen. I preached many sermons on faith. The biggest portion of the church at that time did not think that we could do it. And honestly, WE couldn't. But God could. And He did. We now are sitting in a sanctuary that was built upon our faith in God.

Some wondered why God would not give us all the money we required at the outset, but we learned a valuable lesson in the process. Everything God does in our life is designed to increase our faith in Him. I received several comments and letters from many of the older congregation thanking me for igniting their faith in God. We knew what God wanted and we trusted Him to work. And He did.

So let's listen closely today as God instructs us on our personal and individual faith and how to put it into action. We will be using Hebrews 11 for our passage.

PRAYER

We can't see God with our physical eyes. But He is a real person who wants to have a close personal fellowship with us. God is spirit and He resides in a heavenly world that is beyond our comprehension. Isaiah prophesied and told us that God's ways are entirely different and superior to our thoughts and ways. That's what makes our interaction with God entirely different from any of our other relationships. And because of that we must have faith if we are going to relate properly to God.

Many of you are concerned with me retiring at the end of the year. You are very concerned about who will become the next pastor. I can feel the tensions and the fears rising. Now all of you are involved in the testing of your faith. Do you have the faith and do you trust God enough to choose the person He wants to lead this church? Let's see what this faith thing is all about.

Hebrews 11:1-3 – “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. 2 For by this our ancestors were approved. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.”

Scripture tells us that faith is the confidence and trust that something is true. An excellent example of this is our faith in Jesus Christ. Have you seen Him? Do you believe that He exists? That is what faith is. "Faith is the reality of what is hoped for." Our faith gives us assurance that what we believe will become a reality. This building became a reality because of our faith in what God wanted done.

Our brother Jesse needed a dentist. His insurance recommended 6 or 7 dentists. He called each one and none of them would give him an appointment. Jesse came to me and we prayed about it and gave it to the Lord. I told him to get ready because the very next call he would make would be a dentist that would give him an appointment. A couple of weeks ago, Jesse came to me and said it happened just like we had prayed. His very next phone call he received an appointment. Jesse and I had faith that God would make it happen. And it did.

As you read in the Bible, you will find that faith is always God-centered. Notice that the writer of Hebrews does not encourage us to have faith in ourselves or in our own desires, but in God. We can't always make our own dreams successful regardless of how hard we work toward that. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. But faith in God is always rewarded. This is not the power of positive thinking because we are limited in how much we can make our thoughts become a reality. But God can bring every one of His purposes to reality in our lives. When we place our faith in Him, we can be absolutely confident that He will do what He has said.