We are in our 8th week of shutdown mode. Can you believe it? Our last in-person church service was on Sunday, March 8. Did you think it would go on this long?
What regular habits/practices have changed for you since the shutdown began?
For me, exercising in the gym hasn’t happened in 8 weeks. And I can really tell the difference. When you don’t exercise a muscle, it will atrophy over a fairly short amount of time.
How is exercising faith similar?
This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith.
Romans 1:17 NLT
On Sunday, I tried to make the case that Jesus started something in you… Something that he intends to finish.
Do you have unfinished projects around your house? What are they?
Sometimes, when a project stays unfinished for a long amount of time, we just kind of walk past it, almost blind to it. But when the neighbors come over and see it, it is a glaring issue.
My thought on Sunday was that a stagnated, unfinished project causes you to doubt the one responsible for the project. What do you think about that?
I also tried to describe the difference between belief and faith. What did you take away from that?
Here is how the author of Hebrews describes faith:
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.
Hebrews 11:1 NLT
Faith is evidence that you actually believe what you say you believe.
Like this:
One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and started out. As they sailed across, Jesus settled down for a nap. But soon a fierce storm came down on the lake. The boat was filling with water, and they were in real danger. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm. Then he asked them, “Where is your faith?”
Luke 8:22–25 NLT
What did the disciples trust Jesus enough to do?
It seems that at this point in Jesus’ ministry, the disciples were willing to trust Jesus to some degree, but when things got tough… When the storm came… what did the evidence show?
I love Jesus’ response to them… “Where is your faith?” He calls it their faith… Yet, we know that faith isn’t from us at all, is it?
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV
Faith doesn’t come from us.. It comes from him. It is a gift. Jesus is asking, “where is that gift I gave you?“
The evidence showed they didn’t really have much of it.
What did the evidence actually show?
Was it the storm’s fault?
I think they were looking through their natural eyes, not their supernatural eyes. Think about it… THEY WERE IN THE BOAT WITH JESUS. Yet, they were looking at the wrong thing.
What boat do we easily forget Jesus travels with us in?
- Isolation & loneliness?
- Marriage?
- Lost relative?
- Health issue?
Is your faith in the storm, or is it in Jesus? How do you know?
How do you think Jesus would want you to exercise your faith this week? How can you trust him, step out on that faith, and watch him work, growing and changing you?