Faith

At youth group on Tuesday, we continued to discuss 1 Timothy 4:12, which says: "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity."

Last week we talked about how to set an example through love; this week we focused on how to set an example through our faith. Incidentally Brad Martin, a good friend and elder in our church, preached a sermon this Sunday about faith. You can listen to it by clicking here. He covered a lot of the things that we covered on Tuesday night. I felt his sermon was very effective in communicating what faith is because he didn't just give us some textbook definition of faith and tell us to go do it. He made it real to us by showing us how faith worked in the life of a real life person. In this case, a missionary couple who had to see their daughter battle leukemia.

The writer of Hebrews does the same thing. After he tell us what faith is in chapter 11, verse 1. He gives a fairly long list of Old Testament figures that gave us examples of what faith looks like, culminating in the prime example of Jesus Christ himself (chapter 12:1). One of those Old Testament figures that always impressed and made an impression on me was Abraham.

In Genesis 12 we read about God commanding Abram (later to be Abraham) to leave his country and to go to a place that God will reveal later. God then promises to bless Abraham in the following way: he will be a great nation, his name will be great, anyone who curses Abraham will in turn be cursed, and all the families on the earth will be blessed through him (Note: YOUR entire purpose of being on this earth can be summed up in this, you are blessed to be a blessing to others). So in an unbelievable expression of faith Abram packs up his family and immediately leaves as God commanded him.

What can we learn about faith from Abraham's response to God? I believe we learn that faith involves three things: knowledge, conviction and trust.

We have to have intellectual knowledge of certain facts. Basing a belief on what we think or feel or wish is not enough because people think or feel or wish a lot of different things. So what we believe has to be based on an objective truth and the only way to get that is from the only one who knows that truth. The one who created and continues to sustain all things, God Himself.

While understanding the facts is very important; it is not enough to qualify as faith. I understand the fact that my truck is green but that is not faith, or at least not the kind of faith we are talking about here. Faith also requires conviction. Conviction is an emotional response to truth. "Faith is being sure (assurance) of what we hope for and certain (conviction) of what we do not see"- Hebrews 11:1. There is something in us, beyond the external evidence, that is telling us: "this is true!" and though we may have times of doubt and though there are times when we have more questions than answers, we know (conviction) that what we believe is the truth. See 1 John 5:9-12.

The third and final aspect of faith is trust. Trust involves a movement of the will or in the story of Abraham, trust is the action: the going forth. Abraham could have understood the facts (that God wanted him to go so he could bless him to bless others) and he even could have been convicted that this was the truth; but if he did not trust it (to the point of taking action) it would have profited nothing. James 2:17 puts it this way: "faith, by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." And dead faith, in the words of James 1:14, is not saving faith.

Now that we see what faith really involves, you can ask yourself, is this the kind of faith I have been expressing? Does my life reflect this kind of faith in God? See for yourself how it plays out in the life of someone expressing this faith. If you have never read the story of Abraham or if has been a long time, I encourage you to read Genesis 12-21 sometime this weekend. My next post will discuss the events of those chapters. Also, look for people in your life that live out this kind of faith, it can be a great example and encouragement to you as you grow in your own faith. In doing so, you can then be be an example and encouragement to those around you.

Go, be blessed so that you can be a blessing to others.

Making an Impact?

In the Sunday School class that I teach on Sunday mornings we have been going through a book entitled "Radical" by David Platt. By the way, if you have not ready it, I highly recommend it. It has really challenged the way I view my faith and how I do ministry. Today, we focused on a chapter entitled "The Multiplying Community" based on Matthew 28:16-20.

I started by asking this question: If you could have a significant impact on the world, what sort of impact would you have? For many that answer will vary greatly but for Christians I hope that we would have a similar response: "to make an impact for Christ". That has to be top priority. People's eternities are depending on it!

The question then becomes, how do we do that? That is what this lesson is about.

Matthew 28:16-18, ^"16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. ¹⁷ When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
¹⁸ And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."

The first thing we see is that no matter where you are on the journey of faith, we must submit to the authority of Jesus Christ. He has a plan already and we simply need to be obedient to it. As you consider his words in vs.16-18, ask yourself this question: "Why is it so important for believers to realize their lives fall under the authority of Christ?"

Check out Matthew 28:19-20a. "¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.".

The second thing to notice is what the plan entails. GO. MAKE DISCIPLES. BAPTIZE. TEACH. I think the key command here is to make disciples because you can't make disciples without going; and you can't baptize and teach obedience without making disciples. What amazed me in studying this passage is that as I live my "Christian life", my focus is everywhere except on making disciples. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of "good" things that I am involved with. I could list them out right here, and you would be very impressed :) but what I don't do is intentionally make disciples. I am honestly just now beginning to understand what making disciples even involves (which is what I plan to discuss next week, for now we'll just focus on what I haven't been doing). Isn't that crazy? I've been following Jesus for 11 years and I'm only just now realizing what God's plan for impacting the world actually involves.

Look at the last part of Matthew 28:20, "and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen."

This is so important. The third thing we see is that, as believers, we enjoy the very presence of Christ. One of the girls that comes every week to my Sunday school class asked a great question a couple of weeks ago. She asked, "How can God expect people, as messed up and sinful as we are, to get the gospel to the entire world?" (or something to that effect). I did not have a good answer to that until I realize what Jesus was saying in the last part of verse 20. The answer is we can't, and on our own, he doesn't expect us to. However, he has given us something (actually someONE!) that makes all of this possible: The Very Presence of his Son, Jesus Christ. That changes everything! What once was impossible for us becomes not only possible, but guaranteed. What a relief! Success in this area does not depend on our ingenuity or our abilities! It depends on our willingness to trust the one who has promised to be with us; guiding, equipping, and empowering us, every step of the way.

In conclusion, the answer to the question about how to make an impact is this: Submit to the authority of Christ by making disciples and by taking every advantage of having the presence of Christ in our lives.

Next week: How do we make disciples?