Growing Your Faith

What is faith?•Hebrews 11:1 has the answer

•Being sure of what we hope for

•Certain of what we do not see

•Real world examples

• The control arm snaps when you are passing someone

• The tires implode because they were under-inflated

• The car swerves of the road and is totaled

• Every time you get into a vehicle you are putting your faith into a complex machine

Wrecked Truck

New Truck

After:

Before:

The Speed Demon

Simple Faiths

• You buy a later model SUV• You have an extended warranty• You expect that it can handle what you throw at it• You expect all the parts to work together

• You cannot see bacteria with the naked eye

• We don’t know exactly how it works

• Flesh-eating bacteria is real, we have seen the evidence

• You have faith that washing your hands will prevent disease

Creepiness

Cleanliness

After:

Before:

The Clean Freak

• We wash our hands because we are told

• We can’t see the “Germs”

• We use anti-bacterial soap

• We have never seen “germs”, but we’ve seen what it does

• Not enough fuel was added to make the trip

• Engine failure

• Structural failure

• Pilot error

• Bad weather or traffic reporting

Crash

Take Off

After:

Before:

Physics of Flight

• Who has ever gone on an airplane?

• What keeps the plane in the sky?

• Can you see it?

• You have faith that something you can’t see orcompletely understand is keeping you from dying

• Yellowstone National Park is beautiful, but holds a dark secret

• It is the largest “supervolcano” in the world

• It could erupt at anytime

• It would make the United States uninhabitable

• It would bring us into another ice age

Earth in Pieces

Peace on Earth

After:

Before:

The Beauty of Nature

• You have faith you will wake up tomorrow• You have faith the sun will continue to shine• You have faith the birds will sing• You have faith the rivers will flow into the sea• You have faith that life will continue as normal

Uncertainty and Faith

• They are linked

• Faith can only exist in an uncertain world

• We live in an uncertain world birthed in chaos theory

• No one can predict the weather, climate

• If we were 100% certain of what happens next, we wouldn’t need faith

Living By Faith

• Habakkuk 2:4the righteous will live by faith

• John 3:16We must have faith and believe in Jesus for eternal life

• How do we live by faith?

• How do we walk out our faith?

• Why should we have faith?

Faith Comes from the Word

• It takes faith to read it

• It takes faith to believe it

• It takes faith to put it into daily action

• Romans 10:17Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ

Faith is Intended to Grow

• Faith starts out small

• The more you trust, the more it grows

• Matthew 17:20I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.

Faith and Doubt Can Coexist

• Mark 9:17-24I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!

• Matthew 21:21I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, “Go, throw yourself into the sea,” and it will be done.

Faith and Reason are not Enemies• I think that faith is required to

believe God’s commands

• Psalms 119:66Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I believe in your commands.

• I believe that faith pleases God

• Ecclesiastes 2:26To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God

Faith is More Than a Feeling

• Just like true love, it must continue even when it sucks

• Faith is not a mind trick

• It comes out through action

• James 2:14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

Faith Takes Patience

• We want things to happen now

• We live in an “instant” society

• We have to wait on God

• Galatians 5:5But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope