Sermons found for the topic Faith

The Fifth Law: Active Faith Releases God's Power - Hebrews 11

Let's begin by reviewing the first four laws of the spiritual life:Law 1: He's God and We're Not.Law 2: God Doesn't Need Us But We Desperately Need Him.Law 3: What God Demands, He Supplies.Law 4: What You Seek, You Fi More

By Faith - Hebrews 11:1-2

Faith is the law of the kingdom. It is “belief plus unbelief and acting on the belief part.” Every blessing of the kingdom is available to those who put their faith to work by “acting on the belief part,” moment by moment, day by day, one little step at a time. More

Should Our Teachers Be Required to Sign the Articles of Faith? - Various

Tonight we are beginning a brand-new series of Sunday night messages. As you know, I usually take books of the Bible on a chapter-by-chapter basis on Sunday night. This series is a major departure from that pattern. More

What Is Saving Faith?

"Pastor Ray, how can I know that I am truly saved?" The young man standing before me was obviously in some distress. His story was familiar. He had been raised in an evangelical church where he had accepted Christ as More

What is Saving Faith? - Romans 10:9-10

The question posed by my title is not as easily answered as one might assume. It is evident from reading the New Testament that not everyone who "believes" truly possesses saving faith. Jesus himself warned in Matthew More

It’s the Faith, Brother - Hebrews 11:3-7

There are those who have faith and those who don’t. And if you don’t have faith, you cannot please God. True faith, faith that rests on God and his Word and believes all that he has said, true faith sees the unseen and say, “Yes, it is true.” More

If I Believe, Why Do I Doubt? - Mark 9:24

This is a sermon about a topic we rarely discuss in church. This is a sermon about doubt. As such, it is an unfamiliar topic to most people, even though there are whole books of the Bible that deal with the issue of d More

The Blessing of a Believing Spouse - Hebrews 11:8-10

God may arrange things so that your faith bears vast fruit in the years to come. Your legacy will be most clearly seen after you have gone to heaven. Sarah never lived to see the world-changing impact of her faith in God, but we still remember her 4000 years later and honor her example. More

If I Believe, Why Do I Doubt?

This is a sermon about a topic we rarely discuss in church. This is a sermon about doubt. As such, it is an unfamiliar topic to most people, even though there are whole books of the Bible that deal with the issue of d More

Why Jericho Fell - Hebrews 11:30

Hebrews 11:30 says that “by faith” the walls of Jericho fell. But what kind of faith brings down the walls of impossibility? This message points out five characteristics of the faith God honors when we face long odds and the only way forward doesn’t seem to make any sense. More

Great Is Thy Faithfulness - Lamentations 3:22-25

How many people do you know who do exactly what they say? Before you answer, let me rephrase the question? How many do you know who do exactly what they say every single time? Now before you answer, let me rephrase it More

The Lord Who is Faithful - Deuteronomy 7:9

Today we are beginning a new sermon series entitled “The God You Can Trust.” For the next six Sundays we will be looking at what the Bible says about the faithfulness of God. In order to orient our thinkin More

Level Three Faith and How to Get There - Hebrews 11:13-16

Every time a church enters a stewardship campaign, there is danger and there is also opportunity. The main danger is that the church will talk so much about money that people will begin to equate the whole of Christia More

What is Saving Faith?

The question, "What is saving faith?" is not as easily answered as one might assume. It is evident from reading the New Testament that not everyone who "believes" truly possesses saving faith. Jesus Himself warned in More

If I Should Die Before I Wake - Hebrews 11:20-22

The stories of Isaac, Jacob and Joseph show us what faith looks like at the end of life. Here is one mark of genuine Christianity. When you come to the end of your earthly journey, you still hold on to what you believe. Because Jesus died and rose again, we can face our own death with confidence, knowing that the Lord will not abandon us when we need him most. More

God Must Be Praised in Fiery Trials - I Peter 1:6-7

On April 5, 1943, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was arrested and imprisoned by the Gestapo for his resistance to the Nazi regime in Germany. For several years he had spoken out against the Nazis, and eventually it caught up wit More

At Home with the Lord: What is the Christian View of Death? - Hebrews 11:20-22

One of the first prayers I learned to pray was my bedtime prayer. I do not remember how old I was when I first learned it but I know I was just a young boy. Over the years it has helped millions of children get ready More

The Incredible Journey - Hebrews 11:8-10

Our focus in this message is on the man we often call “Father Abraham.” Hebrews 11:8-10 tells how he obeyed God’s call at great personal sacrifice. It tells us what he did; more importantly, it tells us why he did it. And it clearly shows us that obeying God doesn’t always work out the way we think it will. More

The Father of a Dying Son - John 4:46-54

This is the story of a man whose son was dying. We do not know the precise nature of the son's illness except that he had a high fever and was near the point of death. We do not know the son's name or his age but ther More

Forever and Ever, Amen! - Matthew 19:6

Let's begin with a little quiz. What well-known television actor said the following? "To me the greatest Latin lover in the world was may Dad, who married my mother and was faithful to her until the day he died 55 y More

You Are What You Believe: Why the Apostles’ Creed Matters - Romans 1:16

This sermon gives the history of how the Apostles’ Creed came about and explains the importance it has in the Christian church throughout history aa well as in our individual lives. The Apostles’ Creed is a declaration of faith recognized by all branches of true Christianity. For 2,000 years the Apostles’ Creed has served as a succinct statement of the irreducible minimum of the Christian faith. It is the common heritage of the true Christian church. It offers a broad survey of Christian doctrine, that focuses all on God as the object of the faith, and what he has done for believers. In this declaration of beliefs, the God of the Christian church is sharply distinguished from the gods of other religions by what he has done for his believers. The authority of these statements of belief embodied in the Apostles’ Creed lies entirely on the Word, that is the Bible, and not on any personal or private interpretations. It follows then that a person who professes to be a Christian must therefore subscribe or believe in everything stated in this creed, at the very least, as a start of what the Christian must believe. The Creed reminds us that truth is not optional. There are boundaries to the Christian faith. Not everything is negotiable. Some things must be believed if you are to call yourself a Christian. You can choose to live outside those boundaries, but if you do, you aren’t a Christian and you shouldn’t call yourself one. More

What Is Your Isaac? - Hebrews 11:17-19

From the story of Abraham offering Isaac, we learn that God calls us to yield our dearest treasures to him. Anything good can become an idol when it becomes too important to us. What is your Isaac? Are you willing to lay it down for Jesus’ sake? More

Peace, Be Still!A Short Sermon from the Sea of Galilee - Mark 4:35-41

Lord, don’t you care - that my child is sick, my marriage is falling apart, I have no money, I feel so alone? All of us have moments when life tumbles in around us, when we feel utterly alone and forgotten by God. In those moments we have a choice to make. More

The Oldest Dad in the Nursery - Romans 4:18-25

Let's start off with a bit of historic trivia. Who is oldest mother in history? I'm going to give you four choices:Ellen Ellis Ruth Alice Kistler Murphy Brown None of the Above According to the Guinness Book of World More

Nitty-Gritty Faith - Hebrews 11

It is a pleasure to salute our young people today. They are the future of this church. And it is a pleasure to have our teenagers share in the morning service. In case you didn't know, Bruce Smith made the announcem More

The Final Difference Between the Church and the World - Hebrews 11:29

At the Red Sea, the Hebrews were delivered while the Egyptians were destroyed. From this we learn that the church and the world have two different destinations. This is the final difference between them. More

Why We Keep Believing - Hebrews 11:13-16

Because Christians are aliens and strangers on earth, we are destined to live and die feeling slightly (and maybe more than slightly) out of place. But we will not quit, give up or go back because our home is in heaven. We have expectations of something much better than anything the world has to offer. More

Shall We Kill Our Children Today? - Hebrews 11:23

The amazing faith of Moses’ parents shows us the high value that God puts on children, including those children that are born in less than ideal circumstances. Christians love children because God loves children. Ours is true pro-family religion. More

What is the Difference Between A Real Christian and a Religious Person? - John 3

Being religious is not the same as being a real Christian. Jesus said even the best among us must be born again. A religious person has religion; a Christian has been born again through personal faith in Jesus Christ. It’s as simple as that. Religion is good but Jesus is better. More

The Great Refusal - Hebrews 11:24-28

Because Moses said no to the riches of Egypt, he suffered greatly with the people of God. He shows us what it means—and what it costs—to say no to the world and yes to Jesus. More

"Before I Was Afflicted I Went Astray": Why Your Troubles are a Gift from God - Psalm 119:67, 71, 75

These three verses all use the verb "afflicted," which comes from the noun "affliction," an old word that means any difficult or painful circumstance. Afflictions come in all shapes and sizes. An affliction can be as More

Beyond Your Dreams - Ephesians 3:14-21

Pray boldly for spiritual strength, teaches Paul. God is faithful and we can trust Him. He is more than able to do even more than we ask.. Through prayer, we are filled with the Holy Spirit and grow spiritually, understanding the height, breadth, length and depth of Christ’s love for us. More

Strength for the Journey - 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

In this message Pastor Ray reminds us everything we believe rests on the sovereignty of God. Salvation starts with God, not with us. Because he has chosen us, we can stand firm amid the trials of life. By standing firm we prove to ourselves and to the watching world what we truly believe. More

Murder One: Why Do We Hate Each Other? - Genesis 4:1-16

This is the story of Cain and Abel. It is a story that is so well known that many people who never read the Bible know that Cain killed Abel. It has even entered our language as a synonym for troublemaking—Raisi More

From Adam to Noah: Lessons from a Genealogy - Genesis 5

I begin this sermon with a confession. In my quarter-century as a pastor, I believe this is the first sermon I have ever preached from a genealogy. There is a reason for that, which I'm sure you already understand. To More

The Shaking of the Nations - Haggai 2:20-23

All of us need some special encouragement from time to time. It may be that you need encouragement to stay in school, or to stay on the job, or just to get out of bed in the morning. Maybe you’re facing the surg More

Rock Bottom Truth - Jeremiah 29:11

When we find ourselves struggling with discouragement, we need to be reminded that God is thinking about us, and his thoughts toward us are good and not evil. When we hope in God, we can be happy even though we find ourselves in Babylon. More

To Every Generation: - Psalm 100:5

“Every experience God gives us, every person he puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only he can see.” Corrie Ten Boom Ten years ago today I was sitting in my home in Garland, Te More

In His Steps - I Peter 2:21-25

The Christian walk is synonymous with innocent suffering and pain, through which Christ our Lord suffered and died. He left us all an example of how to follow him in this. A Christian’s call to this behavior goes against the grain of his human tendencies: to suffer unjust treatment without retaliation, trusting only that God would be the judge of things ultimately. Jesus lived the sacrificial life to which he calls all his believers. It is a life that leads to the cross, and he has modeled how to live this sacrificial life for us. When we suffer unjustly, we share in a tiny portion of what happened to him. When we are mistreated, we are to turn the other check, bless those who curse us, and return good for evil. We are not to retaliate, not to threaten, not to get even. Jesus showed us how to live, and he showed us how to die. This response is a miracle in itself and is under girded and made possible only by the gift of grace from God. More

Martin Luther's Highway to Heaven - Romans 1:16-17

It is a mark of our changing times that many people have only a vague idea who Martin Luther is. Most of us have heard his name but we're not sure where he's from or what he did or when he lived. Some of us even get More

Are You Living By Creative Risk? - Matthew 4:22-32

It was Helen Keller who said, "Life is either a daring adventure, or it is nothing at all." Those words would ring true no matter who said them, but coming from someone who lived a life like Helen Keller, they merit More

Two Ways to Go to Heaven: Make Sure You Choose the Right One - Galatians 3:1-14

With this sermon we turn a corner in our journey through Galatians. This short letter has three parts:The Personal Section: Chapters 1-2The Doctrinal Section: Chapters 3-4The Practical Section: Chapters 5-6As we begin More

The Seventh Law: What God Starts, He Finishes

We begin with the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor whose opposition to Adolph Hitler during World War II finally landed him in jail. Shortly before the end of the war, the Nazis put him to death. His be More

Praying For the Sick - James 5:13-16

If you have read the title, you know exactly what this sermon is about. Praying for the sick is something we are all asked to do from time to time. It is certainly something that all pastors do every week. That fact a More

Faithful to the Defeated - Lamentations 3:22-23

The year was 1866, and in a log cabin in the little town of Franklin, Kentucky, Thomas Obadiah Chisholm was born. Although he never went to high school or college, he became an elementary school teacher at age 16. Fiv More

Chariots of Fire - 2 Kings 2

What would you do if you knew that you were going to die today? What if you knew with absolute certainty that today was going to be your last day on earth? Suppose you had less than 24 hours to live. What would you do More

Faith-Yes! The Law-No! - Romans 4:13-17

This is my 15th and next-to-last sermon on Romans 1-4. In just two weeks we'll begin a new series on the Ten Commandments. It's appropriate to mention that now, because we're talking about the law of God in this messa More

Sola Fide: By Faith Alone - Romans 3:27-31

This is the final message in the series on the four solas of the Reformation. I have saved sola fide-by faith alone-for the last because it is the logical climax of all we have said so far. If sola scriptura is the "m More

Mountain-Moving Prayer - Mark 11:22-24

"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will More

How to Pray with Power - Colossians 1:9-14

Life has meaning and is worth living when we pray for God’s will to fill our lives. Trusting God with control or our lives encourages us through hard times as we follow in faith. Our commitment to God’s will means we can live a life that that pleases Jesus and makes us part of His amazing agenda. More