So in about a month I have to give the message during Church. This is what God has put on my heart to share. Let me know what ya think…
Genesis 22:1-12
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
James 2:14-26
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
Every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas my mom makes cottage cheese rolls. I knew she was making them when I would see some of the ingredients set out the night before. The next morning I would usually awake to the sound of the mixer and immediately knew that she was making the rolls. There are certain ingredients in the rolls that you have to have in order for them to come out correctly. Cottage cheese, sugar, salt, baking soda, eggs and flour are the ingredients. I think we might be missing an important ingredient though. Yeast. Thats right, without the yeast bread does not rise and therefore you do not have bread anymore. Bread with out yeast is flat, not recognizable as bread.
Out faith is the same as making bread. First we must profess our faith in Jesus Christ. Then we must ask for forgiveness and then receive the Grace that can only come from Him. This is not where we stop though. When making bread if you do not add the yeast to the other ingredients the bread does not rise just like when we have faith but do not have action in our faith we do not rise to our full potentials in Christ. If you remember back to the scriptures we see Abraham putting action into his faith. If he had not taken Isaac to be sacrificed his faith would not have been complete.
So what does it mean to have action in your faith? Martin Luther King Jr says it pretty well so I don’t think Ill try to top it. He says, “Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” You see, we have to have faith that when Christ is telling us something that he will catch us when we take the first step. The action you have in your faith does not have to be going around the world to share your faith, although if that is what God is calling you to do, then I encourage you to step out and see what God has planned for you. It can simply be telling people at work about your faith or volunteering with ministries at the church or in the community. Action in faith is simply listening to the voice of God and acting upon what He is telling you to do. That means that when you hear that voice telling you to talk to the person on the park bench, you do it. Or if the voice is telling you to call someone, you don’t ignore it because maybe that person needs some encouragement right then. Russ Lee has a great song called “Live what I Believe”. I think this song is a great song that sums up what faith is supposed to look like. Here are the lyrics:
These are the days
For the children of faith
To stand up and be counted
Now is the time
For the light in us to shine
On whoever’s around it
One life can be the proof
Of the hope that is You
I’m gonna live what I believe
I’m gonna walk that line
If it costs me everything
I’m gonna stand for what is right
So that everyone can see
It’s Jesus that they need
I’m gonna live what I believe
The world will see God’s grace
When we work and we pray
And then love like we mean it
if there’s ever been a day
To give ourselves away
Well, I think we’re in it
There’s a passion deep inside
For my life to testify
Lord, let me be used
As a witness for You
With faith and conviction
You’ve called me by Your name
And I will not be ashamed
Gonna walk that line
I’m gonna stand for what is right
Hey, it’s Jesus that they need.
The question you need to be answering now is this:
Is your faith complete by what you have done, or are you sitting in the pew realizing that your faith is incomplete? I have good news though. If you are realizing that your faith is incomplete, it is not too late to put action in your faith and be able to say that you have faith in your faith. Where are you today? Are you gonna live what you believe or maintain the status quo?
***World Racers/Potential World Racers***
If you feel God calling you to international missions explore the possibilities. I think the song would be an awesome theme song for The World Race. We truly will be doing everything the song says!
