Faith Unshaken

// INTRO

Series Recap - Spiritual Habits

Week 1 - Prayer - “We Need to Talk”

Prayer is Communication with God

We need to pray God’s will over our lives, not our own

Pray to be Unshaken & Unafraid - prayer is the key to defeating anxiety

>> Shane Schwartz Testimony

1. UNDERSTANDING FAITH

Faith

active trust and belief displayed through obedience

Spiritual Goggles

there’s assurance or confidence

Faith will allow us to see into the spiritual what we cannot understand in the physical

there’s conviction or evidence

Gravity

there’s commendation or testimony

Although we cannot see gravity, scientists have found ways to measure its effects on objects

Blind Leap or Not?

The Bible doesn’t say we are take a “blind leap” of faith in God

However, the reasons to trust and believe in God cannot fully be measured by our human abilities. The reasons have to be understood on a spiritual level.

See the Unseen

Faith is what is needed for us to see what we can’t see or touch.

, tells us that we have received the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit) and He allows us to understand the things God has freely given us.

2. FAITH DISPLAYED

Faith as Foundation

Matthew 7:24–27 ESV

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Matthew7:24

>> Game: Spaghetti/Marshmallow Towers

Without a proper foundation, everything that is built upon it will fail.

Buildings Crumble

Matthew 7:21–23 ESV

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Matt 7:21

These people build beautiful buildings, but their foundation was weak and they were left with nothing!

Faith as a Weapon

We see faith is apart of the Armor of God -

Shield of Faith is used to extinguish the flaming darts of the enemy

Shields are both offensive and defensive

Faith Comes with Works

Faith is active which means action is apart of faith

, tells us that faith without works is dead faith

If you believe in Jesus, then you will do what He says

Faith Brings Salvation

, tells us that grace has saved us, but we accept it by faith

Gift Giving

When someone gives you a gift, you have the option to accept or decline that gift.

Faith Understands Who is in Authority

The Faith of the Centurion -

Matthew 8:5–6 ESV

5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.”

Matthew 8:5-13

The Centurion - a Roman officer over 100 men

he comes to Jesus with a need - faith expressed

Matthew 8:7–8 ESV

7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.

Matthew 8:7-

The Centurion displays humility here - he recognized the authority of Jesus

Matthew 8:9–10 ESV

9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.

Matthew 8:9-

Jesus marvels at this man’s faith - faith impresses Jesus

Matthew 8:13 ESV

13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

Jesus grants the man’s request and the servant is healed that very hour

The Centurion believed that there was a spiritual realm that he couldn’t see, but could solve his problem. He used active faith (he believed and trusted Jesus could heal his servant) and applied works (went to Jesus and made his request).

The result was that his faith grew, Jesus was impressed by his faith, his request was granted.

Active Faith

Having active faith means that you no longer rely on your own ability to accomplish the task.

When God is the one in-charge, the one in authority, you must trust him 100%

If you take a request to God, but you are still trying to make the solution in your own power, you are laking in faith

Peter Walking on the Water

Jesus told him to come out on the sea

He believed that he could because Jesus said he could

The moment he looked at the waves, he thought he (Peter) couldn’t do it and he sank

Huddle Breakout

3. GROWING FAITH

Testing -

James 1:2–8 ESV

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 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. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

faith tested produces steadfastness

steadfastness will produce wholeness

vs 6 - faith with doubts is not faith

vs 8 - faith with doubts is an unstable person, their foundation is not solid

Hearing -

Romans 10:17 ESV

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

“hearing” was used as Paul was writing to a 1st Century audience that would have had scripture read to them. In modern day, we could say, “faith comes through reading...”

Romans 10:17 AMP

17 So faith comes by hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the preaching [of the message that came from the lips] of Christ (the Messiah Himself).

faith is not just produced by reading, but reading the Bible through the lens of seeing Jesus in everything - from beginning to end, the Bible shows time and time again that God loves us and we should love God.

Asking -

Matthew 7:7–8 ESV

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

simply put, if you want more faith, ask God understanding that He will give you more faith, but it will need to be tested