The fellowship of your faith…
The word fellowship here literally means the “sharing of something in common” and that “something” that we share has to do with our faith. I like to call this our walk of faith because everything to do with our walk must have faith as the driving force.
Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:7 that we walk by faith and not by sight. Everything we do in this walk of ours is done by faith. If not it’s done in our own power and will not be very effective.
This outpouring or sharing of our faith is something we do with other believers. We have this in common with one another – our faith in Christ. This means first and foremost, sharing our lives with one another and sharing the work of the faith with one another.
May
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That’s great news! Our faith can be effective just like those giants of the faith in Hebrews chapter eleven we were talking about. We can see God move in great ways in our lives both individually and collectively just like we read about in their lives.
But I want us to notice how Paul tells us that our faith may become effective. This isn’t something that happens over night. It’s not something that comes into the life of every believer once they place their faith in Christ for salvation and are baptized.
We’ve all seen Christians that have been Christians for a very long time but their faith seems like anything but effective as they live out their lives for the Father.
No, this is something that happens as we live our lives for Christ on purpose. It’s something that happens gradually and grows more and more as we intentionally follow the guidance found in this passage. And that guidance is found in the very next phrase of this
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And the more you exercise your faith in this way, the more effective that faith will become - and the more effective your faith, the more effective your walk of faith will be. Others in church will be seeing you as one of those giants of the faith they look up to!
So What About You? How’s this working for you? Are there any thoughts you need to bring in line with the Word of God right now in your life? If so, take some time right now and ask the Holy Spirit to help you to take those thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
My Prayer For You… My prayer for each and every one of us is that we start to intentionally learn who we are in Christ. But don’t just learn it with head knowledge. That’s vitally important but it doesn’t stop there. Then let that knowledge sink in and allow it to change you from the inside out as you learn to walk in the new you through the power of the Holy Spirit in your life.
Acknowledge these things you are learning as true for you and begin to walk in them by exercising your new faith in these areas. I promise you will see your faith grow by leaps and bounds and become more and more effective both in your own walk as well as your particular ministry in your local
...hat share my faith and together worship Jesus. I believe that by being in fellowship with other believers I will have a strong opportunity to pursue and fulfill God’s purpose in my life, whether it is a daily or lifetime calling.
... reflects the original logos while also maintaining a separate identity, so too must faith be both reflective and inventive. It should strive toward perfection like Reverend Maclean devouring Norman?s papers with a red pen, with the intention of reflecting God?s already established likeness. Yet it must also be careful not to close off unexpected, new avenues, for as Paul demonstrates through his fishing, the most arbitrary human actions can accrue religious resonance. Essentially, human faith faces the ultimate balancing act: it must strive to understand and believe and love all of God and His creation, while at the same time realizing that such complete knowledge is impossible, and that humanity is called to ?love completely without complete understanding? (103).
Engagement with others is the most fertile ground for spiritual growth. Yet, salvation cannot come through individual questing nor good works in the community of the world alone. Salvation can only come when the journey and the work become
Recognizing God is a part of our vocation within community can be confusing for us, how can we serve God in the different venues of our life when the world teaches such differing views? We are encouraged to share our witness, testimony, and service within our families, workplace, and our social settings. Family includes the household within our life touching upon each role parent, child, and spouse. It becomes acceptable to compartmentalize the areas of our life and serve in comfortable areas. Consumerism and societal pressures challenge us to withdraw from the Spirit when we feel intimidated, out of place, or even unworthy of God’s involvement in our life. We are called to be “the salt of the earth”, accepting the challenge to unite God’s calling upon our whole-life. According to Migliore, “United in Christ by the power of the Spirit we are one community; we are members of one body and mutually dependent on one another. Recognizing God works with all areas of community unites families, workplace, and social settings together.
For centuries it has been debated whether Paul and James contradict each other’s theology. At times, they do seem to make opposing statements. The Book of Galatians affirms over and over that we are justified by faith in Christ alone, not by works of our own. Most evangelical Christians agree to that concept of sola fide. We are faced with an interesting dilemma when James famously says, “faith without works is dead.” Martin Luther, himself, felt that the Book of James should be removed from the canon of scripture because of such statements. When one looks at the context of these verses, we realize that the theology of both books complement rather than contradict each other. Although they both deal with the relationship between faith and
James 1:2-6 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
Therefore, through this, Christian adherents are able to express their faith. Hence, as a Christian adherent, it is essential that they follow the words of the Lord and express their faith in the correct manner.
Jesus Christ came into the world more than 2,000 years ago that a dying world might be saved. God, the Creator of heaven, earth, and sea, loves those who believe on Him so deeply that He offered His only Son as a sacrifice to atone the sins of mankind. To atone for man’s sins, Christ came to the earth in human flesh and was crucified in death. Not only was He crucified, but God also raised Him from the dead to be the bread of life and sit on the right hand of God interceding on behalf of the saints. Evangelism is sharing this story of the life and power of Jesus Christ. Moreover, evangelism is providing the necessary information about the cause and reasoning for Jesus Christ walking the earth so that sinners may repent of their sins and begin to trust God with their very existence and everything that concerns them. “Evangelism is the
With this in mind, the following will focus on the spiritual formation process within the Christian community. The concept of Christian community stems from the Bible with the perspective of the body of Christ. The body of Christ is compared to the humane body, a whole comprised of numerous parts; each individual part is required and created by God to form a cohesive whole, no matter believer or non-believer or social status (1 Corinthians 12). Similarly, the spiritual community is also comprised of bountiful parts and can be customized to the individual as the formation. Ashbrook appraises the significance of individuals and community, “Our spiritual formation is designed by God to happen in the context of Christian community, the chu...
Good morning Brothers and Sisters! I’m excited to talk with you all about a topic that is so applicable to each of us. My talk is based on Elder Dale G. Renlund’s address “Maintaining an Eternal Perspective”. Before I go into my talk I want to pose a question that hopefully you will ponder about throughout the talk and really listen to the promptings of the Spirit, because He’s the true teacher. So the question for each of us is “How can I, as an individual, build my faith in Jesus Christ to have an eternal perspective?” Just remember that question throughout this talk.
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Ephesians
The biggest thing that I’ve been dealing with and at this time still struggle with is in finding my self-worth. Some may also call it self-confidence. I feel that I have tended to confuse God’s love for me as primarily traveling through vessels, i.e. other people in the body of Christ. I all too often can look back on my past and see the points where I felt the most apart from God and tie them in with instances where I had torn relationships with past friends in the church. Throughout this struggle though, I have continued to feel the presence of God, through the Holy Spirit, comforting me and guiding me on this spi...
Rather, faith embeds itself into every aspect of human life. Proverb 3:1-12 explains that faith must play out in all that we do. Faith is an emotion, spiritual experience that must surround and penetrate our hearts. Faith is also a physical experience – it calls us to pray, walk, talk, and do everything else with the Lord. In addition, faith has the capability to strengthen our physical bodies when we live our faith fully. Lastly, faith is in everything we do - faith includes our careers, relationships, wealth, sadness, and happiness. As explained in Prov. 3:1-12, faith comprises the emotional, physical, and experiential aspects of life. If we follow this Proverb correctly and offer our lives to God, God will in-turn bestow upon us compassion and blessings beyond
It is important for me to remember when preparing a sermon, that it is not about the preacher, but through preaching, God the Holy Spirit does the work of giving God’s
Jesus cleared this up for his followers in John’s gospel, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing (The Holy Bible).” A Christ follower’s formation is represented several times throughout Scripture as “fruit.” Here, Jesus is making it clear: spiritual formation, and being conformed to his image, is something which happens to us. Again, Christian spiritual formation takes its followers in a very different direction. Humans working hard toward a more spiritual life makes sense, but a process where spiritual progress means leaving the work to someone else doesn’t. However, this is seen time and time again in God’s messages to his followers. Another instance happens in John’s first letter, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (The Holy Bible).” Even the most basic function of spirituality, love, is preceded by God loving his children, which grants them the ability to love others. Driving this whole process of spiritual formation then seems to be trust in “the vine” to finish the formative work he