Sermon Tone Analysis

RECORD

If you were here last Sunday, than you already know that over the month of May I want to concentrate my preaching on the topic of faith

Now to just say the topic of faith is very broad and generic because faith in and of itself covers a whole lot of areas

There’s “faith the size of a mustard seed, there’s healing faith, there’s the gift of faith, there’s the many times that Jesus said, ‘O ye of little faith’”

And all of these areas of study are great and fascinating and beneficial to your faith, but this morning and in the next couple of weeks I want to focus my attention on an aspect of faith that I don’t think I’ve ever spent much time on

And that is “Living by faith”

Let’s jump right in by reading a few important passages when it comes to this topic, the first is

Short, simple and directly to the point

Of course if you look at the greater context you’ll see that Paul was teaching about what happens when we leave this mortal body but don’t confuse the fact that verse 7 is talking about the here and now as clarified by verse 9

Another great passage for this topic comes from Paul’s letter to the church in Rome,

And of course if you have been looking at the top of your handout you will know that our third passage in found in where Paul states,

Do you see the theme that runs through all 3 of these verses?

As followers of, and believers in, Jesus Christ it is incumbent upon us to LIVE BY FAITH

I don’t do this very often but I want you to turn to somebody near you and tell them “I live by faith” and if there’s no one around you just look towards Heaven and say it, “I Live By Faith!”

Okay, so I think that my point is well made and well received so I guess that we can wrap up this morning

But just before we do that, I just want to make sure of something

Can anyone explain to me what it means to “live by faith”?

There’s a scene in the 1987 movie Princess Bride that always sticks in my mind

3 thugs have kidnapped a princess and are being pursued by a the Dread Pirate Roberts who thwarts their every attempt to stop him

Each time he does the leader of the band of thugs, Vizzini, says the same thing, “Inconceivable”

When the rope that the pirate is using to scale the cliffs of insanity is cut and yet he doesn’t fall, Izzini once again uses his catch phrase when Inigo Montoya turns to him and says, "You keep using that word.

I do not think it means what you think it means."

You have no idea how many times I’ve wanted to turn to a Christian that is using some Chritians term and say to them, in a Spanish accent, "You keep using that word.

I do not think it means what you think it means."

So let’s take some time to explore what it means to “Live By Faith”

But just before we get into what living by faith means allow me to explain to you what it does NOT mean

Faith is NOT a religious commodity!

What I mean by that is faith is not something that we keep stored up inside of us ready to pull out and use whenever it becomes necessary

It is NOT a religious exercise or a theological concept that we participate in but it is, or at least should be a way of living in the exact same manner that breathing is the way in which we live

I live by breathing, I also live by faith (or faithing if you prefer)

Faith should be just as valuable to our everyday living as is breathing or eating or any of the other things that we need to survive

So this morning I want to give you some attributes of what faith is and how we live by it and then in the next couple weeks we will look at some examples of living faith

As you can tell by your handout, for this morning we are going to use the word “FAITH” in the form of an acrostic to explain what it means

So let’s begin with the letter “F” which stands for faithful

In the third chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians Paul explains how it is that we become a part of the church by the plan of God through Christ, he then goes on in chapter 4 to say,

1 Corinthians 4:1-4

Mariam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) defines “faithful” as “Steadfast in affection or allegiance”

To live by faith means that regardless of the ups and downs we remain faithful, we remain steadfast in our affection for and our allegiance to Christ

Ephesians 4

Moving on to the letter “A” which for our purposes stands for the word “Action”

No discussion on faith, no matter what way you come at it from, is complete without a look at the second chapter of the book of James

James 2:

If we are going to “Live by faith” than it is going to require us to take action on the very things that our faith is based on, the gospel of Jesus Christ

Notice Jesus never says ‘You raised the dead and you walked on water and you multiplied the resources and and and...

Living by faith means that responding to down and out is as natural to us as breathing

Remember, ‘The life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God’? in other words my life is now about doing what Jesus would do if he were right here right now, a life of action based on the message of Jesus

Okay and now on to the letter “I”

“I” represents invested

Jesus commanded us,

Matthew 6:19-

“Store up treasures in Heaven” is another one of those expressions that needs a Spanish accent response, so let me show you what I mean

1 Timothy 6:17-

I’m pretty certain this morning that I do not have to explain to you how we are among the richest people in the world right now and so once again, to live by faith means that Paul’s command to Timothy becomes the norm for us it becomes natural to the point where we no longer think about it but just live it

Now I am not trying to tell you to sell everything that you have and give it to the poor, although if God is telling you to do that you better be obedient

What I am saying is what Paul said in , that God has made “all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

Please understand that I am not just talking about money this morning, I am talking about your time, your talents, your possessions, are you using them all to live by faith, are they all making an investment for the kingdom or do they belong to you and you alone?

Okay and with that gut punch let’s move on to the next letter, the letter “T” which stands for “Trust”

If you are going to live by faith you are going to have to learn how to trust God and all His ways

Proverbs 3:5-

The problem with this is God doesn’t always do things the way that we want them to be done or even the way that we would do them if we were put in charge

But we need to learn to trust Him anyway which is two fold; one we need to learn to trust the way of living that He has given us in His Word

God’s Word is not intended to rob us of fun and doing things His way is not to keep us from experiencing all life has to offer

Actually it’s just the opposite, God’s way of doing things is intended to keep us from the harm and damage that our way of doing things would cause

From God’s Word on sexuality to His Word on tithing, living by faith means trusting Him enough to do it His way

The second half of this is that when things happen that we do not understand we trust Him anyway, standing on the promise that,

One more passage on trust and then we’ll move on to our final letter, from The Message Bible, “The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living.

It’s our handle on what we can’t see.”

And our final letter is the letter “H” which stands for “Holy” which in a way kind of summarizes all of the other attributes of Living by faith and yet stands on its own as well

(The Message)

Paul wrote,

Faith in What We Don’t See

1–2 11 The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living.

It’s our handle on what we can’t see.

Romans 12:1-

Living by faith means living differently than the world being different, being peculiar, being Holy

Colossians 3:12-

As Christians, as children of God we are not called to have faith or to act with faith but we are instead commanded to live by faith

For our faith to be as much a part of our day as air and food

Let us commit ourselves to this task, not just today but each and every day

Let’s Pray