Living Faith

Pastor Tom Weaver

Highlights

1.) Living Faith must lead to action to be Living Faith.
A. Bearing fruit doesn’t make you a Christian, it simply reveals that you are one.

2.) Living Faith is humble.
A. Faith, by nature, is opposed to pride.

3.) Living Faith is not just intelectual assent to accurate doctrine.
A. Faith that is living leads to faith in action.

4.) Living Faith is a Loving Faith.
A. Faith is made active by energetic love.

5.) Living Faith Knows What is in its Trust Fund.
A. Too often we define ourselves by the blemish instead of stepping back and taking in the whole picture.

6.) Living Faith is a Connected Faith.
A. We have 24 access to God and His peace.

7.) Living Faith is an informed Faith.
A. We inform our faith by reading the scriptures regularly.

Discussion Questions:

1.) Discuss this together, “We are not saved by good works, but it is not real faith without them.”

2.) Why do faith and pride not mix?

3.) In what ways is God calling you to take obedient action steps so that your life is a LIVING FAITH? Pray for eachother that we would take obedient action to the leading of the Lord.

Key Scriptures:

– What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works. James 2: 14-26 NLT

– Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer : ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 18: 9-14

-For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. Galatians 5:6

-Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Phillipians 4: 6-7