Religion & Spirituality
reTHINK #5 Faith by Louie Marsh, 10-3-2021 Read story, then show slide. Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens. Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry. She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff. She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me." Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?" Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it on it's back. Her father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture QUOTES: The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. - --Albert Einstein All effort is in the last analysis sustained by the faith that it is worth making. --Ordway Tead Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. --Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible. --St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) A faith that cannot survive collision with the truth is not worth many regrets. --Arthur C. Clarke Faith is NECESSARY & NORMAL. “I don't think scientists mind being proven wrong…I think any good scientist would love it. I love that no faith is needed in science. I believe something until it's proven wrong and then I believe that.” She is expressing her faith that scientists are super human people with no attachments to their beliefs (wrong). 1) Faith Is… Now faith is the title deed of things hoped for, proof of things which are not being seen. For by means of this [namely, faith] the elders had witness borne them. By means of faith we perceive that the material universe and the God-appointed ages of time were equipped and fitted by God's word for the purpose for which they were intended, and it follows therefore that which we see did not come into being out of which is visible. Hebrews 11:1-3 (Wuest’s Expanded Trans.) My Assurance of Stability My Conviction That The Unseen Is Real. …It's our handle on what we can't see. Hebrews 11:1b (MSG) Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe. - Augustine “27By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:27, ESV) TO BE FAITHFUL MY LIFE MUST BE… IN FAITH - CENTER MYSELF in faith. 1) IN = To put into or onto: encapsulate. To go into or onto “5Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?” (James 2:5, ESV) FAITH ACCEPTANCE APPETITES MATERIALISM FEAR HURTS & HABITS EGO Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done. Colossians 2:7 (NLT) 2) OF FAITH – Let Faith be my PRIMARY MOTIVATOR. OF = Derived or coming from; originating at or from; caused by “8But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);” (Romans 10:8, ESV) FEAR MATERIALISM HURTS & HABITS EGO FAITH “27And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.” (Acts 14:27, ESV) 3) THROUGH FAITH – Make Faith my MAIN DETERMINER. THROUGH = Among or between; in the midst of 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith…26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. Galatians 3:14, 26 (ESV) 12 … but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises…33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Hebrews 6: 12b; 11:33 (ESV) … take up the shield of faith…. Ephesians 6:16 (NIV) FAITH EGO HURTS & HABITS FEAR OBEDIENCE TO GOD GOD’S WILL If it doesn’t get THROUGH my faith, then it doesn’t get TO 4) WITH FAITH – Partner Faith to EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE WITH =In the company of; accompanying, Next to; alongside of For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Hebrews 4:2 (NIV) CHILD RAISING SPENDING HABITS JOB FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH RECREATION 5) BY FAITH – Let Faith answer EVERY QUESTION. BY - Close to; next to; With the use or help of; through: “9and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.” (Acts 15:9, ESV) We live by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV) “3remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 1:3, ESV) “16And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.” (Acts 3:16, ESV)