27 Feb Pastors’ Update
On Sunday I was speaking to the church on the subject of Risk and Faith.
Faith is something Christians are very familiar with, but risk?
I explained that when we know God and we know the Bible, our faith has firm foundations, so it’s really no risk at all. That’s why the expression ‘blind faith’ has no place in the Christian lexicon.
What is risky is when we put our faith on display for all to see.
Once again, the risk isn’t whether or not God will come through for us rather to our reputation. What will people think of us?
I cited the account of Jesus feeding 5,000 men with five loaves and two fish and how he sat the crowd down in groups of hundreds and fifties before the food had been multiplied. In doing so, Jesus added risk to his faith. Of course it certainly requires faith to multiply food, even in private, but going public is faith of another level.
The Bible is full of examples of people who put went public with their faith and as a result extraordinary miracles occurred.
The exciting thing is that each of us can live lives of risk and faith as well. This isn’t just the preserve of a few mighty men and women of God.
In the Bible, in Matthew 5:14, it informs those of us who are believers in Jesus that, ‘You are the light of the world’. Light is by its very nature visible, so no room for us being covert Christians.
If that scares us a little, or a lot, we need to remind ourselves that being witnesses for Jesus was never meant to be achieved in our own strength but in the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s his power working through our weakness. How releasing is that?!
So, let’s be practical. In what ways can we put our faith on display?
Perhaps a friend or work colleague is unwell. Of course you could pray for them indirectly but how about asking them if you can pray for them directly by offering to lay hands on them.
Maybe someone’s name drops into your head and you know that the Holy Spirit is bringing them to your attention. Once again, you could pray for them privately but you could also drop them a short text with a prophetic word which you believe God would have you share with them.
Or how about adding risk to faith in a church setting. Ask the Holy Spirit before the Sunday meeting for a word of knowledge. It might be a feeling in your body that you don’t normally have pointing to a sickness God wants to heal in someone. It might be a word or phrase. It might be a picture that comes into your head. Faith is believing God for this but risk is stepping out when the opportunity is given to share it in the church meeting.
It’s amazing that when we pray, ‘Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’, we get to partner with God in bringing our prayers to pass through our bold acts of faith.
There’s a world waiting to know that God is real. Our intention at Revival Church is to step out in faith and demonstrate this.
With every blessing
Andy Robb
Senior Pastor. Revival Church Billericay