The
book of Hebrews is considered to have been written to Jewish Christians encouraging
them to hold to their confession of Christ as Saviour and Lord, rather than lapsing
back into Judaism, because they were being persecuted. [NRSV, Zondervan, intro to Hebrews]
In
the passage from Hebrews ‘faith’ is mentioned 6 times in 9 verses, so I guess
it might be important.
What
do you think of when you hear or read the word faith? Certainly people of faith
are not perfect, look at Abraham, this hero of faith, he doubted God’s promise,
he passed his wife off as his sister, and he slept with his wife’s servant because
he didn’t believe God’s promise. Abraham doesn’t sound like much of a hero to
me.
What
do we mean when we talk about faith?
If
you had to define or describe faith in a phrase or sentence, what would you
include?
[Responses?]
Here
is a dictionary definition:
A
strong belief or trust in someone or something
A belief in the existence of God: strong religious feelings
or beliefs
A system of religious beliefs
[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faith]
Then
there are lots of quotes about faith.
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Slide 1:
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Trapeze
– no words
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Slide
2:
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Faith
is acting like it is so, even when it is not so, so that it might be so,
simply because God said so.
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Slide
3:
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I
have learned that faith means trusting in advance what will only makes sense
in reverse.
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Slide
4:
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Faith
is like Wi-Fi, it’s invisible but it has power to connect you to what you
need
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Slide
5:
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Faith
tells me that no matter what lies ahead of me, God is already there.
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Slide
6:
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Faith
is knowing one of two things will happen:
There
will be something solid to stand on, or you will be taught to fly.
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Slide
7:
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Faith
is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase. Martin Luther King Junior
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Slide
8:
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Now
faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not
seen. Hebrews 11:1
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While
the dictionary has faith as a noun, I like to think of it as a verb. After all,
I was taught that verbs are doing words. Surely faith is a doing word, faith
moves us to action.
And
action is what Jesus is talking about in the Luke reading.
“Be
ready for whatever comes, dressed for action and with your lamps lit,”
This
is about being ready to respond when God calls you to action. Being ready to
respond to an opportunity to share the good news. It is like a car engine, you
need always have petrol in the tank or the car won’t travel very far.
We
need to be ready to respond to the call of God to live gospel values and
actions: healing, justice, love, grace, peace, etc Erick J.
Thompson working preacher
We
say we live by faith, how does this show in our lives?
By
faith Abel offered an acceptable sacrifice
By
faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death
By
faith Noah,… respected the warning and built an ark
By
faith Abraham obeyed
By
faith Isaac invoked blessings
By
faith Jacob blessed each of the sons of Joseph
By
faith Moses was hidden by his parents
By
faith the people passed through the Red Sea
Bu
faith the walls of Jericho fell
And
what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson,
Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered
kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,
quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of
weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. NRSVA 11: 32-34
Living
by faith, doesn’t mean being perfect.
It
means hearing the call of God
Offering
hope to the disillusioned
Peace
to the heartbroken
Being
ready to speak and live the good news of life in Christ Jesus.
This
morning we meet around the table sharing in the good news of God’s love.
Where
do you need God’s healing?
What
will you take out into the world this morning?
