Friday 20 February 2015

Outrageous Faith

Many church buildings, ours included, have a plaque somewhere with a list of names of people who died in one of the world wars. They are there as a reminder of the heroes of the freedom we have today.

The Bible also has a kind of plaque of heroes, you can find it in Hebrews chapter 11. It is a list of people who, because of their commitment, amazing deeds and certainty in what God had said, have shaped what we think and believe about God’s activity in the world. In the midst of this list the writer says “And without faith it is impossible to please God”. 

Two things are striking about this verse;
  • It is possible to please God – wow! Mere human beings like you and me, messed up, broken people like me (and maybe you!) can actually bring a smile to the face of the creator of all that is. It is a stunning thought.
  • We do this by our faith – the context is important here. The writer is talking about an Old Testament character called Enoch. We know very little about Enoch (although there are various myths about him) except he so pleased God that he went straight to heaven without dying! But this verse goes on to call us to earnestly seek God which seems to be a key in understanding what set Enoch's faith apart.

At St Andrew’s we have just started a new sermon series and a prayer challenge for Lent called ‘Outrageous Faith”. You can listen to the first sermon, called 'Sun Stand Still', here and find out about the prayer challenge here. During Lent we want to encourage you to step up in your faith, to start believing that he is the God who can do the impossible and in some way act on that belief.

However, if we want to be a people of outrageous faith who are living life like the people in Hebrews 11, we need to start by being like Enoch - people who ‘earnestly seek God’. We cannot expect to see God move in incredible and outrageous ways until we align our hearts and minds with His. We do that be seeking him and his Kingdom.

As we start this amazing journey of Outrageous Faith let me encourage you to spend time earnestly seeking God. Make sure you have space every day to be in his presence and to deepen your relationship with him. There in that place He will start to reveal his heart to you and let you in on the things he wants to do through your prayer and through your actions.


Earnestly seek Him.

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