What good is it, dear brothers and
sisters, if you say you have faith
but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?
We
have all met people who live by faith.
Some of them make it real easy to see where God is working in their
lives while others aren’t so obvious. That
doesn’t make one right and the other
wrong.
The
fact is that God has called each of us to live by faith and to know God and
spend time one on one with Him often.
Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian. Having parents or family that follow Jesus
doesn’t make you a Jesus follower. It is
you getting to know God and having God in your life.
Faith
is doing what God called you to do. He
didn’t call you to walk on water or to give all your money to the poor. He is calling you and me to follow Him in
every area of our lives. Living by faith
is following Jesus.
Jonathan went to find David and
encouraged him to stay strong in his faith
in God.
For
David following God meant that he had to run for his life from the king all the
time knowing that he would one day be king.
David had to believe God and let God make things happen in His
time. David killed the giant Goliath with
stones and a sling shot after stepping up in faith because he was so offended
by the gross mocking of God and God’s people.
Sometimes
faith takes giant leaps. Sometimes faith
takes baby steps. Sometimes faith rests
and waits. But faith always follows the
lead of our gracious God who hasn’t left us and promises to never leave us.
Are
you living by faith knowing that God is going to move in and around your life? Faith is the confidence that God will work.
Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.
It
takes courage to live by faith. It takes
God in our lives to help us stand firm.
On a more personal and ministry side, I’d like to take some time
and unpack some things that are happening at The Community Fellowship. Up front I ask that you pray with me and for
our situation.
Recently
we negotiated a lease for 11,000 square feet of space and began renovating it
for our new kids and youth area. Last
week one of our leaders asked our local county building code office to share
what we needed to do to move forward.
They
shared with us just a few days ago that we cannot move forward with the new
space until our current church space is brought within code. An architect has stepped up to help us figure
out what that meant, and we have learned it will cost a significant amount of
money to make the changes to meet code. A few of those pieces we were aware of, but most
of it we were unaware of until this past Thursday.
Our
church leadership team has met the last few days praying and talking through
these issues. This morning at the
conclusion of our worship service we shared with our church family what is
going on.
We
have asked our church family as I ask each of you now to pray with us about
where God wants us in the future. Are we
to use our current space or move somewhere else? We believe we are doing what God has called
us to do and are moving forward with the vision God has given us.
Lives
continue to be changed. Ministry
continues and will continue. But we are
praying and seeking God as to the direction we will go for the place The
Community Fellowship and The Community Dream Center will be located. Will you pray? Please feel free to share with any of our
church leaders or ask questions. It is
an honor to partner with great people and to share our awesome God with
everyone we can. We are moving forward demonstrating the love of God to our
community and beyond.
PS --- Please pray for our back2school outreach
that is 19 days away on August 4th. This
coming Saturday, July 21st, is the day for people to register (pass this on to
those in our area who need this help or who would like to volunteer).
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