“Lord Increase our faith”- New Year Prayer!

 

Sermons on faith and applauding characters from the Bible who demonstrated faith are easy but exercising our own faith, in reality, is when we fumble and stumble a lot. Let us remind ourselves what the Bible says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”. Hebrews 11:6. Faith is not a cheap commodity to be purchased over the counter. Only believing Jesus is the son of God who died for our sins on the cross of Calvary, buried and rose again, according to the scripture, will our faith in Him be strengthened. More often than not, God will put us to test in order to bring stability in our faith. But passing through rough times and facing crisis, tempts us to look into known places to get some help. And we expect God to rescue us from the crisis from the very help we have targeted to receive from. That is not faith. It is good to acknowledge that God will constantly keep us in the edge of crisis, if that is His will, in order to build our faith. Faith is the utmost thing in Christian’s life. Paul says "for we walk by faith, not by sight.". 2 Corinthians 5:7

At one point the apostles realized this too. They desperately need their faith to be increased. Hence, they earnestly pleaded "Lord increase our faith", Luke 17:5. They were with the master all the time, witnessing miracles performed almost every day by Jesus their master, but nevertheless they aptly realized that if they need to exist when Christ is not around, then what they need is faith alone.  Soon after Christ’s ascension they started putting their faith on the spoken words of Jesus, that changed their world upside down, which is true then and now. Sadly, today faith is substituted by in numerous tangibles. Do you wish to pray and make the same request like the apostles?  He would, grant your request if you really mean it. Jesus promised, "For everyone who asks receives...". Matthew 7:8 CSB. When Paul summarized after speaking about spiritual gifts puts faith at the top of the list, 1 Corinthians 13:13, "Three things will last forever - faith, hope and love.".

We always want to know the certainty of our tomorrows; wish and ensure we have enough money to sustain our future. The truth is more than putting our faith in God we put our faith in our money, our bank balances and our accrued wealth and in some cases our donors. Christian journey is all about faith and not prosperity. Therefore, how much ever you try to incorporate views and philosophies equating blessings to prosperity you will lose ground. If you put self-reliance above faith, you are sure to run into problems. God will one day strip all the tangibles we rested our hope upon and discipline us to put our faith in Christ and walk in faith alone. Refrain from trying to be safe without faith. Nothing like that exists.  Donald English puts it beautifully, "We go for safety in faith . . . We build up our security while serving the Lord who went by death to resurrection. The result is a narrowing of the power of the gospel, and of our perception of its possibilities. . . A safe church or an individual are rarely an influential one.”.

Jesus made a disappointing statement when He said, "I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Luke 18:8 CSB.  The reason I think He made this statement is because He foresaw that anything could be made possible for man in this age due to increase in knowledge (Daniel 12:4). Digital breakthroughs, commodities and merchandise are making all things possible for man. Today, faith is also a business. Do not forget this, at the end He is looking for faith in you. Harry Blamires warns with these words, “We must not exploit our faith by advertising it as a technique for achieving earthly satisfactions. The Faith is not a recipe and not a program. It is a Way. Recipes and programs are made to help you carry out earthly jobs successfully. But a way is something you walk in.”.  Make faith your lifestyle.

Click here  You can follow on Twitter

Leaving 99 for 1!

 

Photo Credit Ernie Haase

In this blog domain, ‘liferedefined4god’, our constant emphasis is on the mission of the Church and individual.  The growing concern nowadays is that the focus of evangelism is becoming more a program and an activity inside the four walls of the Church. We focus so much on the Christian activity but less on Christ’s mandate given to us. Churches and individuals are becoming less effective when it comes to taking the gospel outside the four walls. People are not trained enough to provide a convincing defense of their faith to the world. Carey Nieuwhof puts it beautifully,  “Churches that become passionate about people outside their walls will be far more effective than churches that are passionate about keeping the few people they have inside their walls”. Christians and Churches tend to forget that all our activity should and must finally culminate to one activity i.e., to reach out to the people living outside our Christian circle and who have no clue about the gospel. We constantly display Christianity as a religion with a Church building, than pointing people to the cross.

By and large, the big questions in the Bible remains unanswered. Let us review few big questions that are of concern and desperation:

1. Isaiah 6:8 “..Who will I send? Who will go for us?

2. Matthew 9:37 – “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” (In other words, who shall go?)

3. Romans 10:14-15 “..And how shall they hear without a preacher?  And how shall they preach unless they are sent?”

These age-old questions are used mostly in mission conferences for various reasons, one of which is to primarily mobilize resources for mission work. Unfortunately, it is not the resources we need but for people to go. We as Christians are either too timid or inadequate to present the good news to the desperate world. The ones who consider the questions seriously either become a pastor or a missionary. The ones who do not want to respond or comment on the above questions assume the place for them is to be faithful member of the Church and give full attendance. As Pastors and leaders does this concern us? Or are we happy we have regular crowd that gives an identity to a Church. There is no place for anyone to remain idle. Whether it is your career or a mission, reaching out with the gospel is the only priority.

If heaven is waiting to rejoice over the one lost sinner, what are we focusing on?

Church, who is your priority 99 or 1? Technically we would want to manage the 99 effectively, especially when we know we have less control over the 1. The waywardness of the one person is too insignificant for us or it is hard to convince the person to change. We want to give the gospel in a new package to the same old 99 who have received it. In the parable of the lost sheep (Matthew 18:10-14), Jesus emphasizes so much on the one, because that one soul matters to Him. What matters to Him should technically matter to us. Let us not forget 99 will be safe with or without you. If the 99 is not safe, then it means he/she needs seriously reconsider the salvation experience. Everyone who made a commitment to follow Christ is promised with a comforter/ counsellor who will be with him/her forever (John 16:7-8). Even in 1 John 2: 27 says, “As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and not a lie.” Is our 99 a real comrade for your gospel work? What are we going to do with the 99? Can we focus on the 1 and sensitize also the 99 to focus on the 1?

Click here  You can follow on Twitter