How Can I Have Faith?

How Can We Have Faith?

Bible Readings:

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Saturday, 11 April 2015

What Is Faith?

✤ In 1860 he was the first to walk a tight rope over the Niagara Falls.

✤ Faith is acting on your belief.

✤ Faith is acting in the present on the expectation of a future outcome.

✤ We exercise faith in many different ways in our daily life.

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How can we have faith?

✤ What was the process that enables us to change belief into action?

✤ Three factors that can change belief into action.

✤ Believing the promises.

✤ Reputation and testimony.

✤ Personal experience.3



✤ First: the promises of God.

✤ God's promises cover every aspect of life.

✤ God's promises are always conditional.

✤ We have to believe and act on the promise before we can enjoy the fruit of the promise.

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✤ The promises to answer prayer. ✤ “He shall call upon Me, and I will

answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.” (Psalm 91:15, NKJV)

✤ “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Luke 11:9, NKJV)

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How can we have faith? ✤ The promise to forgive.

✤ “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” (1 John 1:9, NLT)

✤ The promise to save.✤ “because, if you confess with your

mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9, ESV)

✤ “And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’” (Acts 2:21, NKJV) 6


How can we be sure the promises of God are true? ✤ God’s Reputation

✤ We can know what God has done in the past for other people recorded in the Bible.

✤ We have the assurance of what Jesus did. ✤ We can believe the promise that God loves

us. God sent His son to suffer and die for us.

✤ “Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” (1 John 4:14–16, NLT) 7


How can we be sure the promises of God are true? ✤ God’s Reputation

✤ “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NLT)

✤ “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NLT)

✤ God has shown how much He loves us by His past actions, we can have certainty that He will not deceive us with empty promises. 8


How can we be sure the promises of God are true?

✤ Testimony of Others✤ People who have experienced God's

trustworthiness and the reality of His promises.

✤ Friends who know they have received God's forgiveness.

✤ When you hear about the experience of others who have believed God's promises and acted on them it helps us to overcome doubt about God's promises.

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How can we be sure the promises of God are true?

✤ Personal experience✤ You prayed to God and asked Him

to show you His love for you and God answered your prayer.

✤ This experience gives you confidence to believe and act on other promises.

✤ Each small step of faith gives us the confidence, to take another bigger action of faith.

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✤ At some point in our lives each of us will face the decision to commit our life to Jesus.

✤ The risk taker: ✤ Hear, believe, pray and act.

✤ The careful:✤ Small step by small step they come

to the point when they are ready to pray that prayer of personal belief and commitment.

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How do you know God has answered your prayer of commitment?

✤ Some have an amazing feeling of joy and freedom. But not every one. Feelings can change.

✤ The promises of God. Jesus said, “I am with you always.” (Matthew 28:20)

✤ Changes in your life; A new love for GodA desire to read the Bible A Sense of forgivenessA new concern for others Enjoyment of worshipping God A desire to meet with other Christians.

✤ All these are the work of the Holy Spirit in you. 12


Your journey.

✤ Where are you on this journey of faith?

✤ What's the next step of faith God wants you to take?

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How Can I Have Faith?

Spiritual

Transcript of How Can I Have Faith?