Category: Sermons

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The Faith of the Centurion

old couple holding hands in hospital

The word for faith comes from the root word peitho, which means to be persuaded. In all references, it is a divine persuasion and is therefore distinguished from belief. Where belief is something we do, faith is something we receive. We have faith because God has proved himself to be true, righteous, and just. A prime example is that demons can believe but they do not have faith: “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe–and shudder!” (James 2:19 ESV). There is an abundance of scriptures that show our faith is received from God. Colossians 2:6-7 says, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus as the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

Faith is vital to our spiritual wellbeing. In Luke 7, a centurion’s servant fell ill. The centurion sent Jewish elders to Jesus to plead with him to heal the servant. The centurion was friendly to Jews and even built a synagogue. Jesus went with the elders and when he got close to the house, “the centurion sent friends, saying to him, ‘Lord do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof'” (vs. 6). “When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith'” (vs. 9).

When the friends returned to the house, they found the servant well. We can either accept the faith or reject it. The centurion chose to accept God’s faith in abundance and Jesus was quite pleased. We often forget that faith comes from God and so we think we can “work on our faith.” A much better approach is to be like the centurion and fully accept the faith. Like the apostles, we should pray, “Lord increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5).

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We Walk by Faith, Not by Sight

empty road leading towards high mountains with clouds above

Paul reminded the Corinthian church that our heavenly home is guaranteed. He said, “So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:6-7 ESV). We all know that our faith walk to Heaven, if left to our own vices, is not a straight path. We have many ups and downs in life, including many successes and also life-shattering disappointments. However, Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

The only way to make the path straight is to trust God, acknowledge Him in all we do, and only then will he make our paths straight. James tells us how important it is to ask in faith in the context of meeting trials: “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind” (James 1:6). In fact, he says the one who doubts is double-minded and is unstable in all his ways. That’s a very strong statement, and it shows the importance that faith has in our life.

As we strain toward the goal of Heaven, we need to keep all of our faith in God. Man will let us down, but God provides. His salvation is beautiful and we Christians have a hope that others don’t. Our faith guides us and will keep on on the straight path. If we attempt to live by what we see, we will fail every time. We choose to walk by faith, always!

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If They Don’t Hear How Will they Know?

men wearing robe and scarf

Paul told the Roman church that everyone who confesses that Jesus is Lord and believes in his heart will be saved, whether Jew or Greek (Romans 10:9-13). The Roman church had an issue with Greek believing Christians taking over the synagogues when the Jews were expelled from Rome by Emperor Claudius. The Jews were rumored to have made disturbances at the instigation or “Chrestus” (a misspelling of the Greek word Chrestos, or Christ). When the Jewish Christians were allowed back into Rome, the Greeks sort of pulled rank. The Jewish Christians appealed to being Jewish and being the reason they believed in God in the first place. It created tension in the Roman church and Paul wrote a letter to put them all on equal ground.

Now that Paul establishes that the Gospel is for all people, he turns to the need for Christians to confess and to preach: “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Romans 10:14 ESV). These are perfectly valid questions and they, of course, are rhetorical.

There is a dire need for people to preach. Millions of people are dying without ever having heard the Good News of Jesus. Our faith comes from hearing: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (vs. 17). If we are not investing in the sharing of the kingdom, God’s word will never be heard by people.

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More Than Conquerors

the memorial of sultan mehmed ii the conqueror

It’s no secret that Paul went through many struggles when he became a Christian. In his letter to the churches in Rome, he spoke about their future glory and that the Holy Spirit was interceding on their behalf with groans that words cannot express. The Spirit does this to help us in our weakness. There are two truths that are in tension: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28 ESV). The other truth is that all kinds of trouble will come our way (vs. 35).

But Paul is arguing that none of those things, whether good or bad, will be able to separate us from the love of Christ: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” (vs. 35). These things will come, but they won’t separate us from God. The reason? “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (vs. 37).

Paul is sure that “nether death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come. . . nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (vs. 38, 39). This is why Paul is able to strain toward the goal. There is no giving up in the kingdom of God!

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My Lord and My God

human standing beside crucifix statue on mountain

We all know the resurrection story well. And we believe, otherwise we would not be Christians. Sometimes it’s easy to take our faith for granted because many of us have been taught from a young age. We live in a country where Bibles are readily available and it even follows us on our phone. But the first disciples of Jesus had a different vantage point than we do. They were with Jesus and witnessed his many miracles, including bringing people back from the dead.

It shouldn’t be that surprising, then, that they had a difficult time believing that Jesus had died in such a vulnerable way. The One who was able to raise people from the dead was now. . . dead. When he appeared alive at the tomb to Mary, John, and Peter, they believed and announced it to the other disciples. Then Jesus appeared to the disciples and “he showed them his hands and his side” (John 20:20 ESV). For whatever reason, Thomas was not with the other disciples when Jesus showed up.

The other disciples told Thomas that they saw Jesus but Thomas said, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into his side, I will never believe” (vs. 25). Jesus did not appear to Thomas until eight days later when he showed up to the whole group. He allowed Thomas to put his finger in his side and to look at his hands. Thomas answered, “My Lord and my God!” (vs. 28).

Jesus asked a rhetorical question, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (vs. 29). We truly are blessed. And we truly do believe in Jesus’ resurrection!

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The Stones Cry Out

cairn stones and body of water in distance

Jesus fulfilled what Zechariah prophesied when he rode on a colt at the triumphal entry. As he rode on the donkey people threw their cloaks on the colt. Many others threw their cloaks on the road and celebrated him for the works they saw him doing. They praised God saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:38 ESV). Some of the Pharisees said, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” But Jesus replied, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (vs. 39-40).

What was prophesied was prophesied. The disciples were going to praise him no matter who tried to stop them. At first glance it seems like the story is going to build and build where Jesus puts on his superman outfit and defeats the enemy. Instead, when Jesus enters Jerusalem he is overwhelmed with sadness.

The Way, the Truth, and the Life was right in front of their eyes and they were about to reject him and hand him over to be killed. He wept over Jerusalem, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes” (vs. 42). Great sorrow came upon Jesus because he knew that Jerusalem would be destroyed because of their disobedience. The week leading up to Christ’s death and ultimate resurrection was a dark week.

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God Has Plans for You

white paper with note

Jeremiah the prophet was told by God that the Israelites would experience horrific defeat and ultimately a 70 year exile into foreign land. It was a grim outlook that seemed hopeless. 70 years is a long time to be living in exile. But there was hope for the people who kept their eyes on God. He promised to return them and help them rebuild the land they once knew and loved: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11 ESV). He promised that they would pray to him and he would hear their prayers.

Being in exile would require a lot of faith and trust in God as well as patience. Proverbs 21:5 says that “the plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.” This rule applies to every aspect of life. If we want to come to an abundance in life we need to be diligent planners. We have to have vision and keep our focus on God. We have to always keep focused on the goal no matter what our current life circumstances are. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

We were created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared beforehand (Ephesians 2:10). We need to always strain toward the goal but it requires vision and planning. We can’t haphazardly walk through life crossing our fingers and hoping things will just work out. Focusing on the goal requires discipline, patience, and determination.