October 2009
50 Days of Faith

In September we began a new series, 50 Days of Faith. You have been provided with opportunities to get connected with God (daily devotional), get connected with others (attend a Small Group), put God's Word in your heart (memory verses), stretch, challenge and deepen faith (attend worship), and to share how your faith has grown (completing survey).

This past year I have done a great deal of reflection about what is important. Economic, financial, health conditions and tragedies are often a wake-up call to realize how important our relationship with God is. As we study the scriptures we learn very quickly that God's love for us is unconditional. There is nothing you can do to make God love you more and there is nothing you can do to make God love you any less. But when you love someone, really love them, your natural, logical desire is to please them, to listen to them.

The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6, "Without faith it is impossible to please God."

We are told that faith is an essential issue. How do you get more faith? Faith comes from hearing the Word. When we read, study and understand the Word of god we can expect the best. We can have confident assurance that God is in control of the future and that He plans what is best for our lives because he loves us. God wants the best for us so He tells us how to live. Our problem is we fail to listen to His voice, we fail to follow His instructions and when we do, we always find ourselves in trouble.

We have been learning how to live by faith in the midst of this fallen, messed up world. How do you expect God's best when you have problems? We looked at David as our example. Not only did he have problems with the people and the nations around him, he also struggled with a number of family and internal problems.

You TUNE into God every morning. Psalm 5:3
You THINK on God's Promises throughout the day. Psalm 119:95
You TRUST in God's love even when things look bad. Psalm 42:11
You TALK with other believers. Psalm 119:63

We learned what helped David grow in his faith was that he had a quiet time with God, he reflected on the promises of God, he worshipped God even more when things were toughest, and his deepest relationships were with those who also had faith in God like him.

That has been our model through these 50 Days of Faith; to read the daily devotional, memorize the promises of God, to be in worship and be encouraged in the midst of the trials, and to be in a small group where we can share our needs and find support in one another.

Is your faith growing? Without faith it is impossible to please God.
See you in worship.

Pastor John