Never Enough

 

Mike & Tiffany Porter

Today, I will be hanging around the Hopewell church after the service with their congregation for a Valentines brunch meal. Mike Porter from the Thornville congregation will be filling in for me at their pulpit. I challenged Mike to carry on with our theme of United Methodist beliefs and step into the subject of Faith. I will be sharing on the same subject at Hopewell. (Feel free to compare notes afterwards.) Faith about a broad of a subject in Christendom as you can find. There are so many ways to present this essential element of our lives as we follow Christ. It should be interesting to hear what Mike has to say. I'm already wondering if we will wind up saying similar things in our messages or if we will wander in totally different directions. Someone from the Thornville congregation should have their phone camera handy to broadcast some LIVE Feed out on Facebook.

 

Faith is a wide and deep matter to step into.  Where do we even begin to start talking about such a subject as this? If we approach this as a biblical event, then we actually have to go deep into the book - yes, the entirety of the Bible itself, before we come to a good line that could serve as a definition on the subject. 

John Wesley would have put it like this, "Saving faith is a sure trust and confidence which a man has in God, that by the merits of Christ his sins are forgiven, and he is reconciled to the favour of God." If salvation is the center of our dealings with faith and we are trying to apply the verse from Hebrews in that direction, then we might see our saving and redemption as something unattainable. Faith would put the matter into the hands of the Almighty and show us that it is possible. The Apostle Paul would put it directly into that arena and out of the hands of man. 

Ray Higdon will take the subject of Grace as he fills in for me on the last Sunday of the month. I think Ray will do a great job of explaining what Grace is from his point of view with all that he has experienced in his life and family. Grace and Faith are, most certainly, gifts of God. Grace has to do with God drawing us to himself. Faith has to do with us reaching out. Many have felt the need to stop and ask God for faith in the midst of a difficult time. You may feel that you do not have faith. I would plead the case that if you just asked God for faith, then you know what it is and your most assuredly have it. it is impossible to reach out to God unless you believe he is there. Faith opens the locked door and allows us to make the plea. 

Bubba Watson is a golf pro and two time Masters champion. In the February-March edition of Guideposts, he shares what faith means to him and how he keeps his focus on what truly matters. We are going to see this short video in church this morning as Bubba shares what his parents taught him.

Reading through Hebrews 11, we are dropped into a history lesson. We are shown these giants of life and lore with what they have gone through. If you are a sports person, there are a plethora of people we can look to that will inspire and shock our senses with their abilities. Faith can seem like such a mountain to climb. They misguided idea is that only certain people get to make the trek to true faith. That would be a misread of Hebrews 11. What we need to see here is that all of these people mentioned here are just common, everyday folks. The reason they get a mention is because they chose to trust God and put faith before their issues. Whether your hero is Bubba Watson or Michael Jordan or Jesus Christ, what have they put in front of us that inspires us to go forth with faith? A deeper look at the word might help us with that answer.

There are some immediate trigger words that should jump off the page at us when thinking about the definition of faith. How exactly do you define it for yourself? Many of have been taught that its a sin to question God. We should take everything we hear on faith and trust that it is right. However, if we are listening to the last line of the definition, then we see words about having strong convictions. We don't arrive at a place with that resolution unless we take the time to ask questions and seek answers. I especially like the line that speaks to having good intentions. "acted on good faith" What about having faith when everything looks lost and hopeless? "firm belief for something in which there is no proof" The Apostle Paul would say "No one has ever seen God". How do we hang on to a faith in something for which we have never seen before? Have you seen God before? How do you know he is there? Faith is that one essential quality we all need. At the beginning. At the end of it all. Hold on to what is true. Hold on to your faith. And, don't let go.