CFC SINGLES FOR FAMILY AND LIFE CHAPTER ASSEMBLY WHAT FAITH DOES SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

At 1. 2. 3. the end of the session, the participants will be able to: Know what faith is according to Hebrews 11 Know the different misconceptions about faith Learn what faith does to us based on what the heroes of the faith exemplified

METHODOLOGY
Talk Sharing

40 minutes 20 minutes

SPEAKERS PROFILE EXPANDED OUTLINE

I. Introduction

A CFC SFL Household Servant living out the principles mentioned in this talk

Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested. By faith we understand that the universe was ordered by the word of God, so that what is visible came into being through the invisible. By faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice greater than Cain's. Through this he was attested to be righteous, God bearing witness to his gifts, and through this, though dead, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was found no more because God had taken him. Before he was taken up, he was attested to have pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him, for anyone who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:1-6) Faith is a part of our everyday lives. Whenever we flip the light switch, we put faith on the electrical wirings that the bulb will turn on. We put faith that when our car passes over a bridge, it will not crumble. We put faith on the doctor we do not understand the writing and to a medicine we cannot pronounce the name whenever we are sick. In these three (3) cases, faith is based on the electrician who wired the switch, the engineer who designed the bridge and the doctor who gave the prescription.

The same is true with our spiritual life. Muslims put faith in Allah, Buddhists on Buddha and Hindus on their thousands of gods. People in these groups are acts accordingly to what their religion teaches. For some who claim to have no religion at all, they still put their faith in something like their human potential, nature or science. The point is, everyone puts his or her faith into something. For us Christians, we believe in the one God, the Creator of everything - the God who sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us as payment for our sins. In Him, we put our faith and live our lives accordingly. What does it mean to put our faith in God? What does this faith entail of us? Hebrews 11 summarizes the kind of faith that we should have. Many Biblical scholars call this chapter The Faith Chapter. II. What Biblical Faith is Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) A.W. Tozer explains this verse as, Faith is seeing the invisible, but not the nonexistent. Faith is not putting our trust on Someone who is not there, but rather on Someone who exists but unseen. However, Many are still confused what faith is. Some have misconceptions. Here are some examples: A. Faith is to abandon reason and logic 2 Corinthians 5:7 states that, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Most people misunderstood these words as a blind walk or leap into the dark. People think that you have to ignore reason and logic to have faith. The opposite is true. Logically, order in the universe cannot come from chaos unless Someone put order in it. The design of the universe is attributed to its Designer. That is why Hebrews 11 adds, By faith we understand that the universe was ordered by the word of God, so that what is visible came into being through the invisible. (Hebrews 11:3) Our logical faith tells us that there is a loving God who orchestrates the world so that it will not go into total mess and chaos. B. Faith is to make God do anything we want Some think that faith is like twisting Gods to make Him do what we want to happen. It is like a pill or a magic spell that when we take it or say it, we can get the results that we want. This is a dangerous definition of faith because at the first disappointment, this crumbles. Instead, faith is not believing that God will do what we say but believing God for what He says. By faith, we put our hopes, trust and future in the hands of God. C. Faith is simply knowing the right set of doctrines

Knowing the doctrine and teaching of the Church is important. We must know what we believe in. However, this alone is not enough. We must realize that these doctrines are an expression of a deeper truth our relationship with God. Our faith should lead us to a deeper knowledge of who God is and how we can deepen our relationship with Him. Now we know what faith is (or is not), we can explore through the help of Hebrews 11 what it does in our lives. III. What Biblical Faith Does What can faith do in our lives? What effect does it have on us? Let us allow Hebrews 11 to lead us. A. Worship By faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice greater than Cain's. Through this he was attested to be righteous, God bearing witness to his gifts, and through this, though dead, he still speaks. (Hebrews 11:4) Faith that is true should lead us into worship. When we come before God in worship, our faith tells us that we are not even worthy to be in His presence. However, it also tells us that it is Gods desire for us to be by His side. Abel s faith allowed him to offer a better sacrifice than Cain. In worship, we do not just offer songs and praises to God. We also offer ourselves, our whole being. We give to God our time, talent and treasure. Tithing is a concrete way to worship God because the amount that we give symbolizes the time and talent that we put into earning it. B. Walk By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was found no more because God had taken him. Before he was taken up, he was attested to have pleased God. (Hebrews 11:5) Enoch is a lesser-known Old Testament character. What made him special is that God did not allow him to die because he was taken up to heaven. God allowed excepted him from dying because he was found to have pleased God. Faith affects our everyday walk. When we have faith that is genuine and true, our goal in life is for us to everyday please God. Just like Enoch, our desire is for us to be occupied that things that are of God. C. Work

By faith Noah, warned about what was not yet seen, with reverence built an ark for the salvation of his household. Through this he condemned the world and inherited the righteousness that comes through faith. (Hebrews 11:7) Noah did something grand and big in the Old Testament he built an ark. It took him and his three (3) sons 100 years to build it. He was ridiculed and laughed at but he continued to build the ark. In the end, God saved him and his whole household. People who have faith does the work of the Lord even though the results cannot be seen. Ordinary people will easily give up on a seemingly impossible task but people of faith will continue to persevere and work. They see something beyond the visible reward. Warren Wiersbe said, "Faith enables us to understand what God does. Faith enables us to see what others cannot see. As a result, faith enables us to do what others cannot do." D. Wait By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go. By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise; for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:8-10) Abraham lived in tents almost all his life. God commanded him to move from places to places to the land that God has promised him. He also was promised to have descendants as many as the stars. All this only came to fulfillment in his ripe, old age. When we have done all the things that we need to do and still nothing happens, God is asking us to wait. Like Abraham, we should trust Gods loving nature that in the end, everything will happen according to His lovely plan. When we patiently wait, we are telling that, in faith, we trust God. These are what genuine faith does to us. It leads us to worship, walk that is pleasing to God, work in His vineyard and wait on His promises. IV. Conclusion Hebrews 11 has given us examples of what faith does to a person. The heroes of faith exemplified this faith in their WORSHIP, WALK, WORD and WAIT. Let us follow the examples they have set.

ACTIVITY
1. After the talk, the speaker leads everyone into a prayer. 2. The speaker leads the group into reflection with the following reflections:

a. What is faith for me? How do I understand faith? b. How is my WORSHIP, WALK, WORK and WAIT? Do they show that I am a person of faith? 3. After the reflection, the speaker ends the prayer. 4. If time permits it, a plenary sharing can be done.