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“A Growing Faith"
“Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world --- our faith”(1 John 5:4 ESV). “Trees don’t grow to the sky,” economists sometimes say. This expression suggests that things in life reach a maximum rate of return, above which they cannot achieve any greater height or potential output. All you can do at that point is maintain and try to keep it from falling. Faith, however, is not one of those things. Faith in God does not peak. Even the sky is not the limit. Your faith can just keep on going, getting stronger, growing deeper --- if you plant it in certain types of soil. |
The places where faith grows include:
The Bible. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10: 17). As your Pastor, I would hope to inspire some by proclaiming God’s Word from the pulpit. But a Sunday message is not meant to be the sum of your spiritual diet. You should aspire to a whole-week, every-day encounter with the Word. If you are struggling with your faith today, get alone with your Bible. Open it. Read it. Jot down some notes from it. The Word is one of the key places from which faith comes.
Fellowship. Faith also grows from time spent with other believers. When Paul talked about going to Rome to meet with the brothers there, his expectation was “that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine” (Romans 1:12). This can still be our expectation today.
God’s House. Too many believers treat the church as if they only need it every so often. But God has designed His house to be a place where we gather every week for renewal and refreshment, “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near”(Hebrews 10:25).
If you are frustrated because your faith is not stronger, and yet you are seldom in the places where faith is built, you are like someone complaining about the darkness while sitting in the basement under a blanket with the lights off.
Do not look at faith as if it’s something that only belongs to other people, or that requires knowing a mysterious secret you cannot quite figure out. You can have a strong faith that enables you to trust God when it is hard. But not if you are forsaking the places where faith is built.
The Word of God.
With the people of God.
In the house of God.
Click here for Mandarin translation.
Because He Lives,
Pastor Dave
[email protected]
The Bible. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10: 17). As your Pastor, I would hope to inspire some by proclaiming God’s Word from the pulpit. But a Sunday message is not meant to be the sum of your spiritual diet. You should aspire to a whole-week, every-day encounter with the Word. If you are struggling with your faith today, get alone with your Bible. Open it. Read it. Jot down some notes from it. The Word is one of the key places from which faith comes.
Fellowship. Faith also grows from time spent with other believers. When Paul talked about going to Rome to meet with the brothers there, his expectation was “that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine” (Romans 1:12). This can still be our expectation today.
God’s House. Too many believers treat the church as if they only need it every so often. But God has designed His house to be a place where we gather every week for renewal and refreshment, “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near”(Hebrews 10:25).
If you are frustrated because your faith is not stronger, and yet you are seldom in the places where faith is built, you are like someone complaining about the darkness while sitting in the basement under a blanket with the lights off.
Do not look at faith as if it’s something that only belongs to other people, or that requires knowing a mysterious secret you cannot quite figure out. You can have a strong faith that enables you to trust God when it is hard. But not if you are forsaking the places where faith is built.
The Word of God.
With the people of God.
In the house of God.
Click here for Mandarin translation.
Because He Lives,
Pastor Dave
[email protected]
