Faith's Journey Continues

 

    Faith requires obedience. Obedience comes from love and self-discipline.  When you are obedient to God, then you are a witness.  If you are a witness, then you have a testimony.  If you have a testimony, then you can tell people about Jesus and invite them to have a relationship with their creator.

    Faith comes down to what you believe and having a heart of submission.  Faith is a journey because not all of life's questions are answered immediately.  You have to work through your human perspective getting a clearer vision of God's perspective to decide on some aspects of life.  Other aspects like how to get to heaven, who God is, and sin are cut and dry.  You will mature in your understanding, but at the end of the day your opinion doesn't matter.  What God says is and it will not change because you want it to.

    Sharing your faith takes sensitivity.  You don't want to sound like you are apologizing for what you believe, but you don't want to push the person away either.  You need time to have them really hear you and see that your heart is not judging them.  

    Faith's focus is on Jesus.  Jesus will transform you from the inside out.  All you have to do is allow the world to see you.  If they really look, then they will see aspect of Jesus in you.  It will either attract them to you, make them angry, or make them avoid you.  Don't take it personally.  It is the affect Jesus has on people. 

    Your part in faith is to have conversations with people that you know are not believers.  The Holy Spirit will do the work behind your words.  Do not put so much pressure on yourself that you never talk to people.  If the person comes to faith, then you take them under your wing to disciple them or introduce them to someone else that may be a better fit to disciple them.  Do not turn your faith into work.  It is a part of who you are.  Let it become natural.

Psalm 23:3-6, 32:8-9, Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 40:28-31, Matthew 11:25-30, Romans 8:26-30, 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, Colossians 2:6-7, & Hebrews 11:1-3

Faith Journey

 

    Faith begins at salvation, but it is never stagnant.  If you get to a place where you are comfortable with your faith, then you are probably not growing in this season.  Faith will always be pushing you out of your comfort zone.  If you don't grow on your own, then God will find a way to make you uncomfortable to keep you close to Him.

    Faith requires obedience.  Satan has a plan to destroy you.  God has a plan to bring you closer to Him.  Do you have a plan to stay focused on your walk with the Holy Spirit?  If not, then Satan will find a way to derail you.  It happens, so be prepared.  Repent and pick yourself up to keep going.  This is a life long journey.  It will not stop until you enter Heaven. 

    Part of the journey is the "Great Commission".  You are commanded to be baptized and start growing in your relationship with God after salvation.  Once you get started in your discipleship training you are commanded to start making disciples.  You can lead people to Jesus as soon as you become a Christian, but it takes maturity to be able to start making disciples.  It is a journey, not a check off list or step up.

    Before you start discipling other people you need to be able to answer some questions in an uncomfortable environment.  Do you understand what it takes for a person to get to Heaven?  What is salvation?  What kind of person do you need to be to be good with God?  Questions like this.  You need to know the answers, how to answer for the person you are talking to to understand, and how to deal with rejection.

    In your faith journey you have to learn how to rely on the Holy Spirit.  He will not lead you astray.  He will help you become comfortable with the uncomfortable.  Take a look at your salvation.  How are you doing in your faith journey?  Have you found some blind spots?  Do you see places you have become complacent?  Take control and surrender them to God at the same time.  You are as close to God as you want to be.  If you want things to change, then you have to put in the time.

Psalm 119:105-112, Proverbs 3:5-6, Matthew 17:20, 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, & Philippians 1:3-6, 4:10-14

Faith Ministry

 

    It takes faith to serve God.  Faith is what drives and motivates you.  When common sense tells you that there is no point faith will tell you to keep serving in love.  Faith upheld in love helps you care, minister, and touch people's lives.  There is nothing rational about it.  It is trusting God and doing as you are led by the Holy Spirit while telling the world about Jesus.

    Faith ministry is welcoming.  It is warm and inviting.  The location and format is not what matters.  It is the people that are important.  It is when people come together to pray and love in an organized manner.  This creates an atmosphere of peace, joy, and comfort.  The stronger the relationships the more people it can attract.

    Faith ministries attract people to Jesus.  It works because people see Jesus in you.  In a typical church it is about 10% of the people that do all the work.  In a joint faith ministry it attracts people to want to get involved.  It is not just coming together once or twice a week.  It is getting involved in lives where people are living their lives.

    Relationships are the key to faith ministry.  It starts with your relationship with God.  Then the Holy Spirit uses your passion for life to go out and create a ministry or service for the community.  You build loving relationships and before you know it it you have a real ministry coming to life.  

    Different people and different relationships need different things.  There is no set way to do ministry.  As long as you keep it Biblical, loving, and led by the Holy Spirit then you will be able to reach unsaved people.  It probably wont be easy, but the victories for Jesus make it worth it.  

John 13:31-38, Romans 10:16-21, 2 Corinthians5:16-21, Ephesians 2:1-10, & Hebrews 11:1-3

Faith Flashback

 

        Faith gets you through a lot, but you still need friends, time to deal, opportunities to share your faith, growth, and appreciate life experiences.  Sharing your life means becoming vulnerable.  You need humility and vulnerability to make an impact for God in this world.  You need it to experience life with gratitude and being prepared to do anything with Jesus.

    Faith flashback is looking at your life and seeing how you have impacted the world for God.  Have you put yourself out there when the Holy Spirit prompts you?  Do you have the habit to be bold and speak about your faith?  Can you see your faith mature and grow?  Have you learned discipleship?  Do you train anyone in discipleship?  Have your learned how to deal with rejection?

    True faith should help you make connections in life.  It can help you reconnect with people you have once lost, but want to reconcile with or feel a pull to reconnect.  Sunday school or life groups are a fundamental way to make these connections, grow, worship, and learn.  You can visit people as a group.  People to go visit are people who have not attended in a while, people unable to attend, hospitals, death in family, counseling need, and more.

    The point of faith visits is evangelism.  That means the visits need to be positive, but real.  Leave the people feeling like it was a benefit for their life.  Tell them the truth about what the Bible says and invite them to join you again.  If it is someone you know, maybe leave your personal number to be there for them when needed.  Maybe set up something outside of church because life is lived outside of the walls of the church building.  If needed come up with an action plan to help them until things are better.

Psalm 121, Habakkuk 2:4-5, 2 Corinthians 5:16-17, 2 Timothy 1:3-7, & Hebrews 10:32-11:3

Faith Testimony

 

    Evangelism is personal with your testimony.  How you give it and how much detail will depend on the conversation and need.  You can keep it simple or you can get into the depths depending on how the Holy Spirit leads.  No matter what your story is, God will use it.  

    Time is a factor in how you give your testimony too.  If you have a lot of time you can tell your full story.  If you only have minutes, then you can do your salvation story or what God is doing now in your life.  The important thing is to hit the important highlights that give God the glory.

    To prepare on giving your testimony write it out to be no more than three minutes.  Make it concise, but natural.  You want it to impact the understanding and need for forgiveness.  Do your best to avoid churchy words.  It can make Christianity sound like a cult.  You want people to know the difference of true Christianity and everything else.  Churchy words can be confusing to people that have never attended or did not grow up in church.

    Your salvation testimony should include who you were before meeting Jesus, what brought your conversion, and the benefits of salvation.  When you are done let it sit with them for a moment. If they don't ask questions, then you ask them questions.  You want to find what connected with them and focus on that area to get them to see their need for Jesus too.

    If they are open to deeper conversation, then open your Bible or use the Bible app on your phone.  Find the answers to their questions there.  Make it a point that they can find all life's answers in the Bible.  God will never be caught off guard.  He is prepared for every situation, so you don't have to worry about Him not showing up.  He is there.  He is working in their heart even if there is no evidence to that. 

    It is okay if you do not know where everything is in the Bible.  You can use google search, the Bible's index, or another person to get there or answer questions.  Allowing people to see that you are human and not perfect can actually help in bringing people to Christ.  It will make it beginning of their journey easier.  It will challenge you to grow in areas too.  

Psalm 71:12-16, 120, Mark 5:18-20, John 16:12-15, 2 Timothy 1:8-11, 1 Peter 1:3-9, & Revelations 12:10-12

Faith Background

 

    To evangelize about faith you need to understand people's spiritual interest and back grounds.  Not everyone will respond to the same approach.  Some need a strong debate, some need a gentle conversation, some need to see you live out your faith, and some need something completely different.  The reality is that no one can change how another person believes.  Only God can do that, but you do have a role to play by living out your faith and telling people the truth.

    Learning a person's background requires building trust and a real relationship.  There is no technique that can be taught to make that happen.  You either connect with people or you do not.  If you do not, then do your best to live out your faith in front of them, tell them the truth about Jesus, pray, and trust that God will send someone else to connect with them.

    Evangelism needs sensitivity.  You need to be sensitive to hear the Holy Spirit's direction.  You need to be sensitive to the person's experiences, but that does not mean that you are not upfront and honest.  It is all about the body language and how you present the truth.  Your evangelism style needs to reflect God's love in a way that the recipient can hear it.  It does not mean that they will automatically accept it.  

    Ask questions to get to know people.  Ask them about their church background, where they attend now, and if they are a member anywhere.  Church hurts can cut the deepest and last the longest, so you need to be careful with how you proceed when dealing with that.  Prayer may be the only answer.  However these questions will really help you know a person.  

    The last thing you ever want is to come across threatening as a Christian.  No one is interested in what you have to say if you scare, threaten, or are rude to them.  Before you go out make sure you pray especially if you are in a bad mood or had a hard day.  You may come across differently than you want to be perceived.  

    Remember if Godsends you that means that Satan is tailing you.  He will do his best to get you to get in your own way.  Do not take people rejecting Jesus as personal rejection.  It is hard because Jesus is so much a part of your life.  Jesus is strong enough to take it, so give all your hurt feelings over to him.  

    Keep the first conversation simple and lay out your faith and why you believe.  Save the controversial discussion for when you are prepared, ready, and already have a relationship.  You want to always leave the door open to talk more about Jesus.  Go in too hard too soon and the door can be slammed in you face.  

Proverbs 3:5-6, Matthew 17:14-20, John 3:16-17, Acts 1:6-8, Romans 10:5-18, Ephesians 2:8-10, & Hebrews 11:1-3

Faith Transition

 

    When you become a Christian through faith your world begins to change.  The more discipleship training and practice you do the more your relationships will change.  You will lose some, you will find new ones, and some will be strengthened.

    How you talk is something that will change and transition to become more holy.  It starts with listening to the Holy Spirit.  He will convict your heart when you start talking in a way that disparages God or anything He created.  You are a creation of God along with everyone else, so you can no longer tear down yourself or anyone else without hurting God.  

    Rapport may be something that you will have to work on.  You may need to practice in a mirror or with a trusted friend.  Rapport is when you invest into listening to someone else speak and respond in love or kindness.  You can tell hard truths without being insulting, intentionally hurtful, or rude.  It is okay to be honest and forthright, but do not always be blunt.  Consider your words and how they impact other people.

    Conversations are not all about you.  You need to learn how to ask questions that will impact the person you are talking to.  Hopefully it is in a good way, but to have deep conversations, you need to have deep questions.  Ask for opinions, thoughts, insights, viewpoints, and reasons.  The goal is to understand someone's heart if you have any chance to reach it to get them to really hear Jesus.

    When it comes to asking about faith, you will get a confirmation, title only response, unclear about what faith is all about, or no opinion/anger.  You need to be prepared to deal with every person and their response.  If they are already a Christian, then you can basically treat it like a family reunion and a chance at a new friendship.

    If a person's faith is based off of works, then they need a perspective change.  They are close.  They probably want it, but they are missing the door of opportunity.  The majority of so called Christians are in this area or they believe they are because their family was or is.  You can't inherit faith.  It is a personal decision.  You can't earn faith.  You have to take a leap into the unknown and trust that God will catch you.  You need to be sensitive when addressing this so you do not push them further away from God, but do not shy away from the truth either.

    Sometimes people are unclear of what they believe.  You will see this in agnostic and some atheist.  You need to pray for them and be very clear about what faith is and how it connects them to God directly.  It may require more than one conversation.  Do not give up unless they tell you to never talk to them about it again.  Even if you can' talk about it, then they should be able to see you live out your faith and you still pray for them.  Don't push them until they come to you again or the Holy Spirit tells you otherwise.

     Some people will claim to have no opinion on faith, but everyone has an opinion on eternity.  You have to ask questions to discover where they really are.  Some people may come across argumentative or aggressive.  Trust that God will protect you, but remove yourself from the situation if you need to.  God is working on their heart and they are fighting Him, not you.  

    At the end of the day Jesus made it clear.  If you seek your own safety  over faith, then you will lose your life lost for eternity.  However, if you lose your life in faith, then you never have to worry about your eternal life.  It all comes down to trusting God's promises.  Faith is knowing your body will die one day, but you are willing to sacrifice it to glorify Him.  You do not have to be a martyr to be a person of faith.  You just have to be willing.

Joshua 1:6-9, Isaiah 43:18-21, Romans 8:26-30, 2 Corinthians 5:16-17, Philippians 4:6-7, Titus 3:3-7, & Hebrews 13:8-9