03
Dec '19
Exercising Your Faith
03
Dec '19
What does it mean to exercise your faith? Personally, I think it’s putting your faith into action. Just like the muscles in your body will atrophy without use, so will your faith muscles.
Let’s look at 2 Kings 4: 1-7.
There was a widow whose husband was a servant to the prophet Elisha. She says to Elisha, “you know your servant, my husband, feared the Lord and since his passing the creditor is coming to take my sons to be his slaves for payment.” So, Elisha says to her, “what would you have me do? What do you have in your house?” She responds by saying she has nothing in her house but a jar of oil. So, Elisha tells her to go and borrow vessels from all her neighbors – empty ones – and do not gather just a few.
Once she has all she can borrow, she was instructed to shut the door behind her and her sons. Then, Elisha told her to take the jar of oil and fill all the empty vessels she borrowed. So, she did as the prophet had instructed her to do. She started to fill the first empty vessel. When that one was full, she went to the next and the next until she asked her son for another. Her son said there were no more to be filled. Suddenly the oil stopped flowing from her jar. She did as Elisha said and sold the oil. She had enough to pay off her debt and live on the rest.
How did the widow exercise her faith?
How did the widow exercise her faith?
- She asked for help – She knew Elisha was a man of God and knew some kind of help might happen.
- She obeyed – had her sons go borrow all the empty vessels they could from their neighbors.
- She exercised her faith – she physically started to pour the oil out of her jar into the empty borrowed vessels.
Do you think her faith was stronger after she filled all the empty vessels with her little jar of oil? I think she took her faith to new heights.
In Ephesians it says to be strong in the Lord and His mighty power. So, it’s not what we can do, but rather what God can do through us.
It says in Hebrews 12:2 “We should fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”
Bottom line is this, whenever your faith is tested; make sure you put your faith into action. You will build your faith in the Lord, but more importantly, the Lord is glorified through the action of exercising our faith.
How much exercise have your faith muscles gotten lately? When we take action build them, our faith will get stronger, we will feel more courage, and the Lord will be glorified through us.
Author:
Elder at Faith
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17
Jun '19
Called to be Fishers of Men
17
Jun '19
A couple of weeks ago the sermon at our church referenced John 21: 1-14. It is amazing how you can read the Bible and see one thing, and later read it again for God to point out even more truth you had not seen before. That was the case with this passage for me.
So in the reference, Simon Peter tells his friends he’s going fishing. They say they’re going with him. Here’s the thing: I know fishing is their trade – and they must eat – but in Matthew 4:19 and Mark 1:17 – Jesus said he would make them “fishers of men” if they would follow him.
They go fish all night and catch nothing. Then as morning comes, they hear someone (they don’t know who at this point) say “Children have you any food?” The answer is no! So, Jesus tells them to cast their net out on the right side of the boat.
Now hold up. If I’m in the boat, I’m saying to myself “Are you kidding me, I have been out here all night and you don’t think I’ve tried both sides of this boat? Really?”
Back to the story. So they throw their net out on the right side. They end up catching so much they can’t even pull the net in. Simon Peter puts on his outer garment and jumps into the water because he now knows it’s Jesus speaking to them from shore. The rest of the disciples stay in the boat and bring the fish to them. When they get there, they see breakfast is already cooking. “Bring some of the fish you have just caught,” Jesus says.
Then I had questions.
Certainly there are the miracles that happened:
- Catching 153 large fish on the right side of the boat – who does that?
- The net doesn’t break – how?
- Breakfast is all ready for them when they get to shore. Who made the breakfast and where did the food come from?
After the questions, I had a few thoughts.
- In this story, Peter reminds me of Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus. Peter had to get to shore to be with Jesus, while the rest of the disciples stayed with the task at hand – like Martha. I want to be like Peter.
- We are all called to be fishers of men. We may share our testimony and not feel we get any responses, but God asks us to keep witnessing – keep fishing. You never know when your net will be so full you can’t bring it into the boat.
Bottom line?
Keep being a fisher of men – even when it feels like no one is listening.
Keep throwing your nets into the water.
Maybe try the right side next time.
Author:
Ken Drew, Elder at Faith Assembly
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05
Sep '18
Foundations
05
Sep '18
As a teenager, I got into underground punk music. Friends shared it with me and we started going to concerts regularly, even booking bands to play in Dixon. It started innocently enough. I was attracted to the artists and other people of influence who attended these concerts and helped to spread the word. They sounded convincing, and their lives were clearly dedicated to practicing what they preached.
When punks came together, we believed that our shared angst and anger allowed us to see cultural problems clearly and because of our position as outsiders, we were willing to do more about it. Long story short, I spent years of my youth chasing a way of life that had a foundation of sand.
In Matthew 7, Jesus says:Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
Building your house on the Rock means hearing the words of Jesus and putting them into practice.
Building your house on the sand means not practicing the words of Jesus and/or practicing the words of someone else.
Building your house on the sand means not practicing the words of Jesus and/or practicing the words of someone else.
Simply hearing or teaching the words of Jesus is not enough. We have to actually practice them and show how we put them into practice. This process is as intentional as it is personal. It’s not just “listen to me” – it’s “listen and watch me as I follow Christ”.
Stop for a minute and reflect on your life. What Biblical truths do you actually put into practice?
Take some time to list them. Now hold that thought.
All children and teens are developing their worldview right in front of us.
They’re building a home for themselves in this world and that home will either be on a foundation of rock or sand.
I can promise you that while this is happening, the enemy will put liars in their path, people who not only speak false ideas but actually put those ideas into practice. Their words will be relentless and their practices will be persuasive.
Now think of the Biblical truths you’ve put into practice. How can you share it with the next generation?
It may be the foundation necessary to fortify a soul.
Author:
Phil Arellano
Youth Lead, Foundations Youth Ministry at Faith Assembly
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06
Feb '18
Thoughts on Preparing For the Ultimate Marriage
06
Feb '18
Perhaps the most important part of God’s creation story is the institution of marriage and family in Genesis 1- 2. In this first book of the Bible, God creates man and woman, telling them to be fruitful and multiply. This final act of creation represents the very first marriage relationship and nuclear family. In this, we can see how God was beginning to create His Church.
The “Church” is referred to as the bride of Christ- the ultimate picture of relationship.
This includes all those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God- the essence of the gospel- and are committed, loving, and living for God. Revelation 19: 7 (the last book in the Bible) speaks to the ultimate marriage relationship when it states,
“Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.”
Jesus is the Lamb of God, who was identified in the gospel of John: “Look, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
So if the beginning of the Bible establishes the first marriage and the end of the Bible represents the last marriage, it’s the in-between marriages, families and relationships that are needed to prepare the Church to be the bride of Christ, our church family.
This is the hard part and little messy too… okay, a lot messy!
The Church and its people are not perfect, and won’t be until the ultimate redemption and reunion of the bride with Christ, the Bridegroom.
We should however desire to be more like Jesus, and take actions needed to move from the first marriage and our in-between relationships to the church family becoming the bride of Christ. This is done in part by progressing beyond solely our earthly family to the church family as adopted sons and daughters of God. Every marriage and family has challenges that threaten their existence, and the crisis of the family is sadly more common now than at any time in human history.
Today’s local church must be the bridge- the connection between the first original marriage and the last and final marriage relationship. As Jesus is our hope, the local church (the bride) is the hope of the world as it plants, cultivates, harvests and nurtures people to full Christian maturity.
Our earthly relationships are meant to be a (albeit imperfect) picture of the ultimate (perfect) relationship with Christ, with the glory of God flowing out of our marriages, singleness and family relationships.
Let us make the decision today to know God… really know God… through the redeeming power of Jesus Christ. It is He who strengthens relationships and builds His Church through imperfect people who are deeply loved by an amazing God.
Author:
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