Faith

  From “In the Beginning” to Amen – The Table of Remembrance   Luke 22:15 (ESV) “And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, ‘Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’”   Luke 22:17-18 (ESV) “And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, ‘Take this, and divide it am...

  From “In the Beginning” to Amen // Your Kingdom Come…   Luke 18:8b (NLT) “But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?” Or “Will he find faith on the earth?”   Luke 18:14 (NLT) “I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”   Ha...

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // Who Is the Greatest?   Mark 9:33-37 (NLT) “After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, ‘What were you discussing out on the road?’ But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, ‘Whoever wants to be first must take la...

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // Christ and Community   Acts 4:12-13 (NLT) “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had b...

  Matthew 16:13–18 (NKJV) When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered...

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // The New Testament   Jesus Came to Set Captives Free…   Luke 4:17-21 (NLT) “The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will s...

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // Repairers of the Broken Places   Haggai 1:3-9 (NLT) “Then the Lord sent this message through the prophet Haggai: Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you! You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirst...

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // Remaining Faithful Regardless of Who Is in Charge     1.     Daniel was Humble You Can Stand for What Is Right Without Being Disrespectful to The Person in Authority…    There Is a Difference Between Conviction and Pride   2.     Daniel Was Honest   3.     Daniel Remained True Daniel 6:1-5 (NLT) “Darius the Mede decided to divide the kingdom into 120 provinces, a...

  From “In the Beginning” to Amen // A Life Shaped by Humility   Will I obey God when God's answer agrees with me?   Will I obey God when His answer is different from what I wanted?   Nebuchadnezzar Humbled Daniel 4:24-37 (NLT) “This is what the dream means, Your Majesty, and what the Most High has declared will happen to my lord the king. You will be driven from human society, and you will live i...

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // Fresh Mercies – Every Morning Discipline/Punishment/Correction Almost Always Unpleasant No Matter the Degree of The Punishment   Why Does God Put This Kind of Stuff in His Word?   1 Corinthians 10:11 (ESV) “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.”   Laminations 3:31- 33 (NLT...

From “In the Beginning” to Amen – Come While It Is Still Called Today   God Is Patient, But God Is Not Indifferent   Ezekiel 12:22 (NLT) “Time passes and prophecies come to nothing.”   Warning - Don’t Say, “Nothing Ever Comes of God’s Word”   Ezekiel 12:25 (NLT) “I am the Lord! If I say it, it will happen.”   Don’t Confuse God’s Delay with God’s Denial   God’s Delay Is Not God’s Cancellation   Jud...

Vision Sunday     Who Are We Going to Be Going into the Future? Faith Church - A Ministry for Our City   Vision: “A Church Living for the Glory of God and the Good of All People.” Mission: “A Church Living Out the Purposes of Christ in Our City and the Nations.”   Philippians 2:1-8 (NLT) “Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the...

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // True Religion     Have You Ever Wondered, What Pleases God?   Isaiah 58:3-12(ESV) “Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?”     Religious Activity Can Hide a Heart Far from God’s Heart.     God’s Heart (Light) Is Revealed in How We Treat People.     Fasting Isn't Merely Emptying Yourself of Food. It'...

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // God’s Grace   Sin Can Take Us Farther Than We Ever Intended to Go   Grace Can Reach Farther Than We Ever Imagined   Restoration Produces a Transformed Life   2 Kings 21:1-9 ( NLT) “Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother was Hephzibah. He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, following the detes...

From “In the Beginning” to Amen – What Does God Really Want of Me?   Micah 6:6-8 (NLT) “What can we bring to the LORD? Should we bring him burnt offerings? Should we bow before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves? Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins? No, O people, the LORD has told yo...

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // God's Dwelling Place   God’s Purpose Is Not That We Just See Him or Are Aware of Him, But Rather Seek Him and Know Him.   Psalm 132:13-14 (NLT) “For the Lord has chosen Jerusalem he has desired it for his home. ‘This is my resting place forever,’ he said. ‘I will live here, for this is the home I desired.’”   God Always Chooses a People Before He Chooses a Place....

From “In the Beginning” to Amen – Telescopes and Tardigrades     Psalm 104; Romans 1:19–20   Romans 1:19–20 (NIV) "Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without exc...

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // Jonah - Who’s Reputation Matters Most?     Am I More Concerned About My Reputation or God’s Name and Reputation?   Romans 9:1-3 (NLT) “With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing t...

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // Nothing Is Impossible, Nothing Is Insignificant     2 Kings 6:1-7 (NLT) “One day the group of prophets came to Elisha and told him, ‘As you can see, this place where we meet with you is too small. Let’s go down to the Jordan River, where there are plenty of logs. There we can build a new place for us to meet.’ ‘All right,’ he told them, ‘Go ahead.’ ‘Please come w...

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // Searching for God Knows What     1 Kings 19:1-3 (NKJV) “And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ‘So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.’ And when he saw that, he aro...

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // Ecclesiastes   Ecclesiastes 1:2 (NLT) Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”   Hevel = Smoke   Temporary   Paradoxical   Ecclesiastes 9:3 (NLT) “It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate…”   Smoke   Ecclesiastes 2:4,10-11 (NLT) “I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by plantin...

From “In the Beginning” to Amen // Called and Commissioned     2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (NLT) “And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So,...

From “In the Beginning” to Amen – Honest to God   Honest to God   God Invites Honesty, Not Performance   The Psalms Model a Full Emotional Life Lived in God’s Presence, But Willing to Learn and Be Shaped   Psalm 73:21-28 (NIV) “When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. Yo...