September 15, 2013 – Read the Word on Worship
The Armor of the Shield of Faith from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.
Faith is a gift from God. And like so many other gifts of God, we have a responsibility to appropriate it and grow in it. So how do we grow in faith? The key is to grow in the object of our faith, namely Jesus Christ. Faith is only as good as its object. You can have the strongest faith in a rickety bridge and have it collapse under your weight in spite of your strong faith. Or you can have a weak faith in a strong bridge and it will hold you up along with a semi truck that rumbles along beside you. The right way to have a strong faith is to know the engineer who built the bridge. You knowledge of the bridge and its builder would increase your faith in the bridges ability to hold you up, even though it may go over a frightening chasm below. The bridge, not your faith in the bridge, gets the glory.
Join us this week as we see why the shield of faith is the ultimate weapon in the armor of God. And may our Father increase our faith for the glory of His Son.
Word On Worship – September 15, 2013 Download / Print
Ephesians 6:14-17
“Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
In 1947, a rumor spread that the Ford Motor Company would give a new Ford in exchange for every copper penny dated 1943. The rumor spread like wildfire, even without the internet or email, and Ford was flooded with requests for information about this incredible giveaway. But as you might expect, it turned out to be nothing more than a hoax. The U.S. Mint confirmed that in 1943 they minted over one billion pennies out of a combination of zinc and steel due to the need for copper in World War II, but none were minted out of copper.
There has been another rumor going through out the human race for centuries that people can go to heaven based on their good works. But that too is a hoax. The fact is there are no works made on earth that are acceptable in heaven because all of our works are tainted by sin. The only righteousness that will gain entrance into heaven is the work of Jesus Christ, graciously given to sinners who come to Him by faith. Our eternal destiny depends on our understanding that we are justified not on the basis of our moral behavior, but by faith in God who credits righteousness to people apart from their works.
Faith is a gift from God. And like so many other gifts of God, we have a responsibility to appropriate it and grow in it. So how do we grow in faith? The key is to grow in the object of our faith, namely Jesus Christ. Faith is only as good as its object. You can have the strongest faith in a rickety bridge and have it collapse under your weight in spite of your strong faith. Or you can have a weak faith in a strong bridge and it will hold you up along with a semi truck that rumbles along beside you. The right way to have a strong faith is to know the engineer who built the bridge. Your knowledge of the bridge and its builder would increase your faith in the bridge’s ability to hold you up, even though it may span a frightening chasm below. The bridge, not your faith in the bridge, gets the glory.
We need to put our faith in action. As we act in faith and see God’s work, our faith is strengthened to trust Him the next time we are at a crossroad. We need to be careful not to misapply His promises. John the Baptist in prison was confused because he thought that if he were the Messiah’s forerunner, and Jesus was the Messiah, then he should not be in prison. Jesus assured John (Matthew 11:2-11) that He was the Messiah. But that assurance did not mean John got out of prison alive. Even if God’s will is our earthly death, we can glorify Him by dying in faith as we look to His promise of eternal life.