Douglas Mutsotso - Faith for your daily living

1. Theme: Faith – The Key
Order of Service
1. Greetings to you all in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ!
2. Prayer of self dedication
3. Opening Song (Hymn 279 – I Am So Glad)
4. Summary of the Law Gal 3 vs 5 to 7
5. Confession of sin Hymn 347 verse 3
6. Absolution 1 John 1 vs 8 and 9
7. Notice Scriptures Luke 8 vs 22 to 25 and Hebrews 11
8. Intercession prayer
9. Reading of the Scriptures (Luke 8 only for now)
10.Song (Choir 1)
11.Sermon
12.Prayer
13.
14. Collection (Hymn 135 – Sweetly Trusting)
15.Prayer
16.Closing Song (Hymn 19)
17.Benediction
18.Announcement
19.Dismissal Song (Choir 2)
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2. Introduction
What is the subject you would want to learn most about right now? Why would
you want to learn it? Who would you ask about it? When would you start learning
about it? How would you even start to learn about it?
Today I have chosen the subject of Faith. It is a subject I know I could speak on
for a whole week. Volumes and volumes of books and audio materials have been
produced about it. I shall give a synopsis of this great subject on account of time
and I pray that God will assist you to reflect more on this very important subject
which the Bible says in Hebrews 11 vs 6 ‘Without Faith it is Impossible to please
God’!! In 1 Corinth 13 v 13, Faith tops the list of the only 3 things that last
forever. In Luke 17 vs 5 the apostles after realizing it, said to him ‘we need more
faith, how can we get it?’ Need I talk about the storm when Jesus asked them
‘where is your faith?’ Or of the demon-possessed boy when he chided them, ‘you
men of little faith! Or his question, ‘will the Son of Man find faith on earth when
he returns?’ If Faith is that important in the Kingdom of God, then: What is faith?
Who should have faith? How is faith obtained? When is faith used? Or Why do
you need to have faith? Before I go further, in fact let 4 people read the whole of
Hebrews 11 in turns: vs 1 to 10 Mother, vs 11 to 20 Father, vs 21 to 30 Female
Youth and vs 31 to 40 Male Youth.
Sermon
a) What is Faith?/ Faith defined
Hebrews 11: 1 – Faith is the confident assurance that something we want is
going to happen. The certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even
though we cannot see it up ahead. Isn’t this a fabulous attribute to have for
yourself in this day and age where we have so many things putting unbearable
pressure on our lives? Whether it be:
• Will my child be a good member of society, or
• Will l have enough resources to sustain the family in these increasingly
difficult economic conditions, or
• Will I find a stable job, or
• Will I find a suitable life-partner, or
• Any other question that you may be having as you sit there right now. I
mean : You.
Wouldn’t we have less stress if we just had Faith to deal with all such issues?
b) Who needs faith?
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3. Every follower of Christ. You have heard it read from the Hall of Faith in
Hebrews 11. Those were real people with everyday lives like us. You and Me.
Even Jesus needed faith. Faith in the Love and Care of His Father. Jesus, when
he faced the cross was as much man as though he was not God. Like you and
me. Any other understanding of who Jesus was when he was on earth has error
since it would make Jesus to have been a super-hero like our Hollywood or
Bollywood stars of today leaping over walls and not breaking a bone. He was
capable of utter failure. He was so awed by the real and impending danger to
his life that when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane his sweat was like
drops of blood falling to the ground. (Blood is made of heamoglobin, which
is mostly the element iron. One bucketful of iron weighs more than 5 buckets
of water). That means for a sweat drop to thud like blood it must be big! - A
sign of stress and predicament for the Lord. Only faith in His Heavenly Father
made him to overcome temptation and the fears of failure that were glaringly
facing Him.
c) Why do we need faith?/Does it still work today?
We cannot have faith without results. Anymore than we can have motion
without movement, or electricity without energy, honey without bees. Matthew
13 vs 58 says Jesus did not do many miracles due to the peoples’ unbelief!
Hello!!!!! Are you listening to this? Don’t blame God for the lack of miracles
in your life. Go in front of the mirror and see who is there. That one is the
problem. Never again pay attention to the hopeless ones who say that miracles
and signs and wonders no longer take place. How many times did Jesus say,
Son, your faith has healed/saved you’? or ‘According to your faith, be healed’.
Or, ‘when he saw their faith, he said, ‘Cheer up son, I have forgiven your
sins’. He must use the faith inside of you to release the miracle you need.
d) How much faith do we need then?
Someone said you don’t need a great faith in God to take care of your problem.
Rather you need faith in a great God to take care of any problem you have. I
believe that that is why Jesus said if your faith were the size of a mustard seed
you would tell the Mount of Olives to be uprooted and throw itself into the sea.
So if you thought that miracles were just for the often-touted ‘spiritual giants’,
I kindly correct your error.
e) How do I obtain faith?
The good news is that you don’t need to DO anything very special for God to
reward you with this gift. If you worked for your faith, then you would be
earning it. Jesus said to the Centurion when Jesus knew that the brother’s faith
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4. had left him after his child was reported dead, ‘Don’t be afraid, only believe.’
(You see, Faith can actually leave or fly away as it were through FEAR
Factor). We need to hear the Spoken Word. How many times has one line in a
hymn ministered so much to you that a thousand messages will not achieve a
similar effect? That’s The Spoken Word – The Rhema. The writer of
Hebrews says we must look to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith. John
1 says that the Word was with God and was God and became flesh and dwelt
amongst us. That Word is Jesus. That is why Apostle Paul in Romans 10 vs 17
says that Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of Christ. In other
words, as I teach right now, God is giving Faith wings and feet to come to you.
Don’t resist it. It is simply and plainly a gift to you from God.
Please now close your eyes or just bow down right where you are and
focus on what you could do with the faith God is putting in motion right
now. The impossible situation you are facing. The lack that you have. The
disease you have been diagnosed with. The excruciating and ceaseless pain
you felt is going on without an end. Anything that has worried you. Call it
by its real name to yourself. Only you and the Lord know it. (The Blind man
the one only known as son of Timeaus wasn’t shy to say, ‘Lord I want to
see!’ He could have been stupid and tried to rationalize and think in social or
scientific and educated terms and say, ‘Ah, I’m just a write-off from birth,
everyone knows my handicap’, or words to that effect. But he shifted his focus/
paradigm immediately Faith Came to him from Hearing Jesus was passing
by).
Now that you too have heard the Word, let us pray:
Father, I thank you for your Faithful and Gracious Nature. You honor your
Word each time it is invoked with faith. I pray In Jesus’ Name that you stretch
your victorious right hand in the lives of your people and deliver them from
each and every situation that they have called by name. I plead the shed blood
of Jesus for a completed work.
Amen and May their Faith Set them Free Right Now In Jesus’ Name.
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