January 8 2017 Getting A Grip On Faith

GETTING A GRIP ON FAITH

Matthew 9:29 – According to your faith will it be done to you.

Hebrews 11:6 – Without faith it is impossible to please God.

Luke 17:5 – The apostles said, Lord, increase our faith.

I. How does God strengthen my faith? By testing it.

James 1:3 – The testing of your faith develops perseverance so that you may be mature and complete.

Job 7:17-18 – What is man that you make so much of him, and that you give him so much attention that you examine him every morning and test him every moment.

II. How does God test our faith?

1. God tests our faith through difficulties.

1 Peter 1:6-7 – For a little while you have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Isaiah 48:10 – I have refined you, though not as silver, I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

James 1:2-3 – Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

LESSON: To live by faith, I learn to: To live by faith.

2. God tests our faith through demands.

Exodus 16:4 – The people are to go out each day and gather enough manna for that day. In that way I will test them and see whether they will follow instructions.

Hebrews 11:8 – By faith Abraham obeyed and went.

Hebrews 11:7 – By faith Noah built an ark.

LESSON: To live by faith I must learn to: Obey God quickly.

3. God tests our faith through delays.

Deuteronomy 8:2 – God led you all the way in the desert these 40 years to test you in order to know what was in your heart.

Isaiah 64:4 – God acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.

LESSON: To live by faith, I must learn to: Wait patiently.

January 3 2016 What Happens When You Have Faith

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE FAITH

Daring Faith: Key To Miracles - Part 1

Romans 1:17 “The Gospel shows us how God makes people right with himself—that it begins and ends with FAITH. The Scripture says those who are right with God will live by trusting in Him.”

Memory Verse: Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

FAITH IS seeing from God's point of view. 

Hebrews 11:1 (NLT) “What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen and to be certain of things we do not yet see.”

Ephesians 1:18 “I pray that the eyes of your heart will be flooded with light so that you can see the wonderful future God has promised to those he called . . .” 

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE SEE

(Numbers 13-14 - Spying out the Promised Land)

WITH EYES OF FEAR?

1. WE EXAGGERATE our difficulties

Numbers 13:27b “It’s a magnificent land BUT the people living there are powerful, and their cities are fortified and large! What’s more, we saw Anakim giants there!” -28

Numbers 13:31-32 “. . . other spies said, “They’d crush us!” So the majority report of the spies was negative.”

2. WE UNDERESTIMATE our own abilities

“We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” Numbers 13:33

3. WE get discouraged

“Then all the people began weeping aloud, and they carried on all night!” Numbers 14:1

4. WE START TO to gripe about our life

Numbers 14:2 “All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron . . . ‘We wish we had died in Egypt!’ they wailed, ‘Or even here in the wilderness!’”

5. WE EVENTUALLY give up and we blame God.

Numbers 14:3 “Why is the Lord bringing us to this land to be killed with swords . . . We’d be better off going back to Egypt!”

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE SEE WITH EYES OF FAITH?

1. FAITH shrinks my problem

Genesis 18:14a “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

Luke 1:37 “For nothing is impossible with God!”

2. FAITH opens the door for a miracle

Mark 11:22-24 Jesus said, “Have faith in God! If you have faith in God and you don’t doubt, you could tell this mountain to get up and jump into the sea, and it would. Whatever you ask for in prayer will be yours, IF you only have the faith.”

3. FAITH moves God to act on my Behalf

Matthew 9:29 Jesus said, “According to your faith it will be done to you.” 

4. FAITH unlocks all the promises of God

2 Corinthians 1:20a “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are all ‘Yes’ in Christ!”

5. FAITH turns God-given dreams into reality

Ephesians 3:20 (LB) “Glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us, is able to do FAR

MORE than we would ever DARE TO ASK or even DREAM of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes!” 

6. FAITH GIVES ME  power to hold on in tough times. 

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (NLT) “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we’re not crushed and broken. We’re perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit. We’re attacked but God never abandons us.

We get knocked down, but we get up and keep going!”

John 3:16 (CEV) “God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life.” 

How To Grow In Your Faith during the DARING FAITH SERIES

1. Listen to all 10 Weekend Messages of the campaign.

2. Carry the weekly Bible verse with you.

3. Set 3 faith goals for growing, giving, and going.

December 29 2013 Mistakes To Avoid In 2014

Mistakes To Avoid In 2014

"Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow." Joshua 7:13 (NIV)

FOOLISH MISTAKES TO AVOID

1. USELESS WORRYING ABOUT THE FUTURE

Matthew 6:27 (NIV)"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

Matthew 6:30b-33 (NCV)"... Don't have so little faith! Don't worry and say, `What will we eat... or drink...or wear?' The people who don't know God keep trying to get these things, and your Father in heaven knows you need them. The thing you should want most is God's kingdom and doing what God wants. Then all these other things you need will be given to you."

Matthew 6:3 (LB)"So don't be anxious about tomorrow -- God will take care of your tomorrow, too. Live one day at a time."

THE WISE WAY: TRUST GOD

2. ARROGANT ASSUMING.

Proverbs 27:1 (NIV)"Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth."

Isaiah 56:12"’Come,’ each one cries, ‘... Let us drink our fill of beer! And tomorrow will be like today, or even better!’"

James 4:14 & 16 (NIV)"Why, you don't even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil."

Proverbs 22:3 (LB) "A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences."

THE WISE WAY: PREPARE

3. FAULTY PLANNING.

James 4:13 (NIV)"Now listen, you who say, `Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make money.’"

Ecclesiastes 8:7 (NIV) "Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come?"

James 4:15 (NIV) "Instead, you ought to say, IF it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

THE WISE WAY: PRAY AS YOU PLAN

Proverbs 16:1 (GN) "We may make our plans, but God has the last word."

Proverbs 16:9 (LB) "We should make plans – counting on God to direct us."

4. LAZY PROCRASTINATING.

James 4:17 (NIV) "Anyone then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it sins."

Proverbs 3:27-28 (NIV)"Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, `Come back later; I'll give it tomorrow' -- when you now have it with you."

THE WISE WAY: DO IT NOW

1 John 2:3-4 (NIV)"We can be sure we know Christ if we obey His commands. The one who says `I know Him' but doesn't do what He commands is a liar."

2 Corinthians 6:2 (LB)"RIGHT NOW God is ready to welcome you. TODAY He is ready to save you!

January 1 2012 Handling Obstacles

Handling Obstacles

Joshua 1:9 - Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you whoever you go.

Four Steps To Face Your Difficulties

I. Be willing to face your problem.
Verse 9 - Be strong and courageous.

How To Face Your Problems

1. Face them in spite of self doubts
Exodus 3:11 - But Moses said to God, who am I that I should go to the Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?
Jeremiah 1:6 - Lord, I said, I do not know how to speak, I am only a child.

2. Face them when their unfamiliar.
Acts 1:10 - They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going. 

3. Face them in spite of the effort it takes.

II. Be willing to keep an open mind.
Verse 9 - Do not be terrified.

How To Keep An Open Mind

1. Take time to investigate the problem.
Joshua 3:6 - Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people.
Joshua 2:1 - Sent two spies.

2. Keep an open mind through communication.
Joshua 2:8-11
Prov. 11:14 - Many advisers make victory sure.

III. Be willing to get others to help you.
Verse 9 - Do not be discouraged.

Hebrews 10:25 - Let us encourage one another.

Examples of Help
• Joshua 3:6
• Joshua 6:1-8
• Genesis 2:18
• I Kings 19:10
• Matthew 26:38

IV. Be willing to face your problems with God’s promises.
Verse 9 - For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Why Promises Are Important

1. Promises comfort us.
Isa. 40:31 - Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

2. Promises encourage us.
Romans 8:39 - Not anything else will be able to separate us from the love of God.

3. Promises motivate us.
Acts 26:19 - I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.

4. Promises help us hold steady.
Matthew 28:20 - And surely I will be with you always.

January 9 2011 Building Your Faith

Building your Faith

(Matthew 9:29 - Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you")

(Hebrews 11:6 - And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.)

(Luke 17:5 - The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!")

I. How Does God build my faith?

By testings

(James 1:3 - because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.)

(Job 7:17-18 - "What is man that you make so much of him, that you give him so much attention, that you examine him every morning and test him every moment?")

II. How does God test our faith?

1. God tests our faith through difficulties

(1 Peter 1:6-7 - In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.)

(Isaiah 48:10 - See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.)

(James 1:2-3 - Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.)

LESSON: To live by faith, I must learn to rejoice

2. God tests our faith through demands

(Exodus 16:4 - Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.)

(Hebrews 11:8 - By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.)

(Hebrews 11:7 - By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.)

LESSON: To live by faith, I must learn to obey God quickly.

3. God tests our faith through delay

(Deuteronomy 8:2 - Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.)

(Isaiah 64:4 - Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.)

LESSON: To live by faith, I must learn to wait patiently