"LIVING FAITH" | Keep feeding Your Faith | Matthew 15:21-28

Introduction

For this month on January we have being learning and studying the theme: “Living Faith.” The passed two Sunday you heard from Sis. Debbie Humm(Lay servant)- that living faith is sharing faith, living faith own it all to God. She shared her story how to came to faith in Jesus. The Sunday before we heard from Bro. Bill Strum our LAY LEADER, that living faith is a reclining faith (beautiful of faith) trusting in God to hold you up. spacial thanks for both of them for sharing their gifts with us.

Today, I want to conclude this series and hope it has been a blessing to you and you’ve learned few things to help you in growing your faith in Jesus. Our text today is about an unnamed woman, a Mother from the other-side, those people who seeks Jesus’s merciful help with great Living Faith.

Text: Matthew 15:21-28

“21 When Jesus left there, he withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.” 23 Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples approached him and urged him, “Send her away because she’s crying out after us.” 24 He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, help me!” 26 He answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment her daughter was healed.”

Illustration Story (“In Dog We Trust”)

The $500 rug in the lobby of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office in Florida was supposed to say, “In God We Trust,” but the rug manufacturer mistyped the word “God,” rearranging the letters so that the rug said, “In Dog We Trust.” It took a couple of months for someone to discover the typo, but then the rug was quickly removed and later auctioned off; the proceeds went to a nonprofit that serves abandoned and injured dogs.Having made my share of typos, I understand how mistakes are made. Misspelling a slogan is one thing, but misplacing one’s trust is another. Yet every day many people place their trust in money instead of God, even though the currency itself declares “In God We Trust.”—Jim L. Wilson

Jesus Encounter Great Faith

News about Jesus’ power and compassion for the sick and broken has spread beyond the borders of Isreal. People brought all the sick with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, and paralytics, and He heal them all. (Matt.4:24)

So, this woman may have heard the news, about Jesus driving out demons and now there He is in a region predominantly Gentiles cities of Tyre and Sidon. This women known a little about Jesus than He’s a healer, She called out ““Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David” despite acknowledging Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, the Lord yet Jesus is silence

Have you had that happened to you? praying disparately for Heaven intervention Only to get no response. Complete silence?

His disciples intervene but not for the reason you think, not compassion or sympathy for a women seeking help for her child but because in their words "because she’s keeps shouting after us” sometimes the church tries to shut people.

When Jesus finally breaks his silence is not what she wanted to hear neither was it was directed to her “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Jesus is simply stating the focus of His earthly mission - sent first to the Jew not to the Gentiles, we know from the rest of the Gospel that Jesus brought redemption and God’s mercy and grace to All (Rom.10:12-13)

Persistent Faith

This women kept pressing by taking her persistence to another level She came, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, help me!” Living Faith is a persistent faith it never takes silence for an answer. With submissive and persistent action this mother for faith wrestler with God like Jacob wrestling with the God. Lord, Help me.

This must be our daily prayer regardless of what we’re going through, or how bad we think we’re “ Lord, Help me.

The lesson for living faith is: When God does not immediately answer your specific prayer it does not mean He is ignoring you, because God is attentive to the cry of His people. It could mean God is trying to deepen you faith.

On her knees before the Lord, yet Jesus replied “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

**What would you have done at this point? get up and walk away in anger? what do you do when your prayers are bouncing off the walls? getting block? trowing in the towel? stop coming to Church?

But living faith keeps seeking and pressing her case to Jesus with a simple prayer “Lord, Help me.”

JESUS Priority

The Greek word for “Dog” accounting to Bible dictionary referred to little house dogs “puppy.”

This is not an insult from Jesus nor Jesus playing into the divisions of His day between the Jew and there Gentiles neighbors.

Christ words here, speaks of a family and priority. The children of the family must eat first before the family pet.

At this point it would not have been a surprise to all of us if the gospel writer wrote “ the woman got up and storm out of the crowd in a rage and disappointment” But this unnamed woman wouldn’t let go of Jesus. She acknowledge her place in the house- please notice she is in the family house, remember family puppy is part of the family. Living faith is acknowledging who you are in Christ and believing in the provision of God. She said “Yes, Lord,” “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Yes, let the children eat all they can, but Lord let the crumbs of healing fall on my daughter

Victory In Jesus

Finally, this woman is on the verge of a breakthrough, her daughter is about to be deliver from the power of darkness and set free; precisely what Christ announce in Luke 4:18 saying “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” How do we know this? because Jesus is turning in her direction with a powerful acknowledge “O Woman, your faith is great.” throughout this process this woman faith continues to grow. Living faith is a faith that grows in the face of adversities. O Woman Your Faith Is Great. Let it be done for you as you want.”

Living Faith in Christ wins