How Faith Acts
Foundations of Faith • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 7 viewsFaith lets us lay hold of the promies of God
Notes
Transcript
How Faith Acts
How Faith Acts
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.
12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.
14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.
15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Origin Stories
The assurance of things hoped for
The conviction of things not seen
*Doing and believing; both components are essential to faith.
4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
A Promised Land
8-10
a faith ready for adventure
a faith that had patience
a faith that was looking beyond this world
A Promised Child
11-12
incredulousness
dawning realization
the ability to believe the impossible
Why was all of this possible
10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Architect- technites (craftsman; designer)
Builder-demiourgos (builder; maker; creator
13 From heaven the Lord looks down
and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—
15 he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.
This is what our faith is built on, the fact that God is the architect and builder of the promises. This allows us then to act, not upon our own will or strength, but upon all the seen and unseen power of God.
Challenge:
This is our origin story, now would you go and share your story with someone this week
Benediction
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.