EXPLORE GOD

“What Is Faith and Should I Want It?”
Pastor Doug Heisel – October 15, 2023

What is faith? At the most basic level, faith is TRUSTING in something or someone, hoping that good outcomes will occur.

The question behind the question is, WHO or WHAT am I ultimately trusting with my most important outcomes?

Proverbs 3:5-6 — Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.

Why the Christian Faith is the Most Reasonable Path

1. It tells me about a CREATOR who knows me and has better plans for me than I have for myself.

Psalm 139:13-17 – For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well…Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are Your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!

Psalm 139:14 — Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex!

2. It tells me about a SAVIOR who LOVES me and wants to produce in me, for me, and through me, the most positive OUTCOMES that are supernatural, relational, beneficial and eternal.

Ephesians 2:3-10 — By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of His grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all He has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.

One final thought: I don’t have to fully understand something, to fully BENEFIT from it.