Living by Faith

  • Tim Kelly
  • Jan 27, 2009
  • Series: Winter Announcements

Living by Faith

There's a phrase scattered throughout the Bible that says, ‘The righteous will live by faith.'  You may have heard me say that planting Genesis is a faith venture.  Our very existence as a church is fragile right now, as is any church plant that's only 11 months old.  However, the beautiful thing about this faith venture is that we are praying to our Heavenly Father, asking Him to provide for us in ways that we never could accomplish in our own strength.  This requires faith.  Why?  What's before us is uncertain and we can't yet see the desired outcome.  Clearly we are asking God to move and work as only He can.

It's faith to believe, truly believe that God can grow our church over the next three months, especially to the tune of 175 people (200 as some @ Genesis are praying).  It's a step of faith that He would work through us to lead others to a new beginning with God.  It takes faith for us to think that we'll meet budget @ Genesis, even in the face of uncertain economic times.  It's requires faith to think that Genesis could be a catalyst to help change the entire landscape of the East Valley in ways that honor God.

Some may say that these ideas are just unfounded optimism.  I don't think so.  Have you read about what God did in the Bible?  He led a million or so of His people out of Egypt.  He defeated the fiercest armies with raga-muffin military units.  He spoke the heavens into existence.  Think of this...  He said, "Jupiter," and it was.  He fashioned the Milky Way; and it was.  To think that God can work and move in ways that are God-sized ought to be what we come to expect of God. 

On the other hand, I'm not a ‘name it and claim it' type person, where you believe that God ought to do whatever you request.  Let's be clear.  God is not a slot machine that responds to our bidding.  God will do whatever He wants, with us or without us.  My point is that we are taking a step of faith by asking Him to move us from our current state way down the road to where we can have two Sunday Worship Services.

Two observations pop into my mind.  One, any big faith venture will have detractors and fierce opposition.  So, be prepared.  There have always been nay-sayers and there always will be.  Add to this the fact that Satan and his minions battle against Christians and his opposition is very real.  We must not be distracted, or worse yet, discouraged by this.  God wants us to be faithful to Him and live by faith, trusting Him.  God is much bigger than any opposition, period.  We see this in the Book of Nehemiah, which we are currently studying on Sunday mornings at Genesis.

Two, I know that you and I have the tendency to play it safe; I think we all do.  Comfort often drives our decisions and church rather than uncomfortable obedience and faith in God.  So, which will it be for us at Genesis?  If we play it safe, then perhaps we'll fade away into the sunset as a church.  After talking with many of you, we would say dissolving through effort isn't an option.  We want to believe God to do something in us and through us.  Therefore, we choose to live by faith so that God is praised.

What we can practically do to live by faith is continue praying that God will build our core volunteer team from 60ish to 100 by March 1.  Additionally, continue to pray that God will grow our Sunday Worship attendance to 175 by Easter.  This is all by faith and we know that faith pleases God and God will reward our faith as we seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

Next, each one of us can participate in some way. We all have different gifts and abilities, which we are to use.  Where can you plug-in and serve?  I would add that each one of us can invite friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers to join us at Genesis.  The Bible is clear that we are all ministers and therefore we are to be actively involved in His church (I Peter 2:9).

Remember this as we move forward into the spring.  We have our work day at Genesis (Feb. 7th); our Fireproof Movie/Dessert (Feb. 14th); our Genesis Breakfast & One Year Anniversary (Feb. 22nd); our Spring Festival (Feb. 28th); and Darrell Ankarlo speaking @ Genesis (March 8th).  Let's put our faith into action by continuing with prayer and then participating in ways that show that we trust God and expect Him to do what only He can do.