Sunday Mornings

Inhaling and exhaling is a gift we don’t stop to think about very much. We just do it. In the same great way, God has offered us as Christians a way to “breathe spiritually” for our well-being which is through faith. Having faith equals having trust. It means trusting God with your entire being that he has your back that he will take care of you. He knows what is best, but to truly embrace what he has planned for you, you have to fully trust. Our trust is not foolish, for our God is both faithful and good. Faith is a gift from God and not something we can create. In Hebrews 12:2 , the originator of our faith calls us to consider his ultimate example of perseverance. He reminds us that runners in an athletic competition cannot be distracted by peripheral objects. Hence, as runners in this race of life, we must “fix our eyes on Jesus.” As we run, we must be looking at Him in faith. He is more than our example; He is our final destination. We must run toward Him with all our might, in the...

   So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Romans 10;17 In our last post, we established the fact that we are empowered by Faith. We saw that faith is trusting God and not your guts in every situation, it is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. Our ancestors, the Giants of Faith had this secret and so they built their life on a firm foundation that enabled them to be set above the crowd. It entails trusting God even when the situation says otherwise. We need faith to please God. This, therefore, tells us how important it is for us to build our faith.   And without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6 Today, we will be looking at one of the ways through which we can build our faith. This is through the WORD of God. The beginning, progress, and strength of faith is by hearing the word of God. It...

2022 is still as fresh as February. We began the year looking at the relevance of divine direction in our decision making. We saw that the decisions we make as we plan our lives have a great deal on our future; could make or mar us. Because we have no idea of what tomorrow holds, we need direction and guidance from He who knows tomorrow. Now that the Lord has given us bearing for the year, we have to trust him and be persuaded that He will do that which He has promised.  20 But he did not doubt or waver in unbelief concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and empowered by faith, giving glory to God, 21 being fully convinced that God had the power to do what He had promised. Romans 4:20-21 This is where faith comes in. So what then is faith?.  Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the phy...

 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Romans 10;17 Last week, we established the fact that Faith is every believer's spiritual breath for survival. It entails trusting God even when the situation says otherwise. We need faith to please God. This therefore tells us how important it is for us to build our faith.    And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6 Today, we will be looking at one of the ways through which we can build our faith. The WORD of God. The beginning, progress, and strength of faith is by hearing. But it is only hearing the Word, as the word of God that will strengthen faith. It takes genuine labor in the word of God to have our faith grow.  One thing we have to understand is that faith has unlimited capacity for growth. In many places in the Bible, we see where various measures of faith were ...

  In the next few weeks, we will be taking a look at Faith and ways through which we can build our Faith. Before then, let’s see what faith is. Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. Hebrews 11:1 (AMP) Faith is trusting God and not your guts in every situation, it is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. Our ancestors, the Giants of Faith had this secret and so they built their life on a firm foundation that enabled them to be set above the crowd. Faith is choosing to believe. It is an unreserved and full confidence in God, in His love for us and in his power to help us in what so ever circumstances. It is that firm persuasion and expectation that God will perfect all that he has promised.   38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if...

One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.   2  “There was a judge in a certain city,”  he said,  “who neither feared God nor cared about people.   3  A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’   4  The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people,   5  but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”  6  Then the Lord said,  “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge.   7  Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?   8  I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will...

My brothers and sisters, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure. Make sure that your endurance carries you all the way without failing, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. But if any of you lack wisdom, you should pray to God, who will give it to you; because God gives generously and graciously to all. But when you pray, you must believe and not doubt at all. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven and blown about by the wind. People like that, unable to make up their minds and undecided in all they do, must not think that they will receive anything from the LORD. James 1:2-8 The letter from James is a collection of practical instructions written to all God's people scattered over the whole world (v1). Just like the other disciples who eventually went on to write epistles, they were inspired from the multit...

We bless God for thus far that He has led us in this study. In closing the study, we would like to see more practically and particularly how these stories relate to us living in this generation. May God grant us insight as we plunge deep into His Word. Amen. The best way to read Hebrews 11 which everyone recognises as the hall of faith in the bible is to see it as a continuation from Hebrews 10 and a pretext for Hebrews 12. We will spend a few lines to discuss about the ending of Hebrews 10 and the beginning of Hebrews 12 to gain more insight on Hebrews 11. Heb 10 Hebrews 10 started with the sacrifice of Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice that solved the age long problem of sin which was a dent to the relationship between man and God. The chapter concludes with verse 38 quoting a verse from Habakkuk 2:4. Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. BUT the righteous will live by HIS faith. So we see here that the righteous one will live by HI...

It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep His promise. Hebrews 11:11 Praise the LORD for another opportunity to study scriptures together. Today we look at the final character in our giants of faith series. Sarah stands out in scriptures as an example to women even in the context of faith among several other virtues she had. Sarah found herself in a very impossible situation. She had been waiting for a child of her own her entire life. She was obedient to her husband when he told her about the call upon his life to go to a far away country that he did not know. Sarah had also come to believe in the God of her husband. She must have been waiting patiently for the day that God would hear her heart desire and give her the child of her dreams. It came to a point that she gave up and she felt that probably God was going to give her a son, but not through her bosom and so she offered her maid...

It was by faith that Moses' parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king's command. It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God's people instead of  enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward. It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king's anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons. (Heb 11: 23-29) We bless God for another opportunity to look into scriptures and glean at His feet. Today as we...

Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitudes innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. (Heb 11:12; 17-19) Continuing the account of Abraham's faith from where we left off last week, we learn more from the life of Abraham. The writer of Hebrews 11 writes these narratives to pass one message across: it is easy to miss the point when we read about these characters in the bible. In summary, they all did what they did because of faith in God. They were flesh and blood like you and I. They had family, they had feelings, they were rational beings, they were not robots, but the faith they had in God made th...

It was faith that made Abraham obey God when God called him to go out to a country which God had promised to give him. He left his own country without knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as a foreigner in the country that God had promised him. He lived in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, who received the same promise from God. For Abraham was waiting for the city which God has designed and built, the city with permanent foundations. Hebrews 11: 8-10 Glory be to God for another opportunity to study at His feet. Today we will be looking at the life of father Abraham. Abraham, someone we know a lot about and probably overlook the fact that he was a man like us, but his life walk with God can challenge our faith in God. May God give us insight as we briefly discuss the faith of Abraham. Abraham was an old man when God met him. He was a settled man at his age. He had already accepted his fate. He knew he would not be growing any taller, he would not be growing any strong...

By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was taken he had a testimony, that he pleased God. Heb 11: 5 Thank God for the open heavens He has graciously granted us in our study in this series. Today God will be challenging our faith from the life of a man that scriptures again does not say much about, but the little that scriptures have said concerning him is sufficient to edify us. Enoch was a very important character in the descendants of Adam. At least we know that he and Elijah did not taste mortal death. The bible says that: After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years...and Enoch walked with God; and was not, for God took him. Gen 5:22-24. Enoch was a man of habitual communion with God. For 300 years, Enoch was in constant relationship with God. The book of Hebrews tell us that while he was on earth, he pleased God. And talking about pleasing God, the next verse s...

By faith [with confidence in God and His word] Noah, being warned  by God  about events not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his family. By this [act of obedience] he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which comes by faith. Hebrews 11:7 The Lord saw the great wickedness on the face of the earth and was bitter. So He decided to wipe out mankind from the face of the earth. But Noah found favor in the eyes of God. (Gen 6:5-8) This is not different from our story of Salvation. The whole world was staged for destruction but Jesus Christ came to our rescue. Just like Noah, we have been chosen as sons of God to correct the decadence that is in our present day society. Noah, by faith and obedience to God made a difference for his family, his generation and for God. He ended up saving his family and generations from extinction. Just like Noah, you can make a difference for your family, generation and for God. ...

By Faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which it was testified of him that he was righteous (upright, in right standing with God), and God testified by accepting his gifts. And though he died, yet through [this act of] faith he still speaks. Hebrews 11:4 Thank God for granting us grace to study at His feet. Last week we introduced the concept of faith. this week, we take a peek at the heroes of faith, and the first on the list is Brother Abel. In order to understand this testimony about Abel, let us look at the story in Genesis: And in the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground. But Abel brought [an offering of] the [finest] firstborn of his flock and the fat portions. And the LORD had respect (regard) for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and his offering He had no respect. Gen 4: 3-5 In the light of our anchor text, we can see that God accepted the sacrifice of Abel because of his faith in...

In the next few weeks, we will be taking a look at the Giants of Faith. Before then, let’s see what faith is. Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. Hebrews 11:1 (AMP) Faith is trusting God and not your guts in every situation, it is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. Our ancestors (Giants of Faith) had this secret and so they built their life on a firm foundation that enabled them to be set above the crowd. Faith is choosing to believe. It is an unreserved and full confidence in God, in His love for us and in his power to help us in what so ever circumstances. It is that firm persuasion and expectation that God will perfect all that he has promised.   But without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, f...