FAITH IS AT WORK…
Faith Baptist of Zephyrhills
Wed. Dec. 8th, 2021
Hi Church!
Is it Faith, or is it Works? Some say Faith. Some say Works. Is Faith enough, or do I need to DO something? Yes or No? The answer is yes, and no! It is only by Faith that we are saved (Ephesians 2:8-9), but a faith without works is dead! Put an exclamation point right there!
This past Sunday the truth of James 2:14-26 was “lived out” in our special church meeting. Our Church name, Faith, lived up to its name. How? Our Faith was “at work” in more than simple and easy to say words, “I believe, I have faith”.
Real Faith, living Faith, shows up. It is ALIVE! Over and over I said, ‘I believe that God can and wants to provide the funds for church solar panels.” It is a wise and good stewardship that will allow us to reinvest money back into the ministry and take better care of our facility. (Side note: We spent over $6,200 on electricity during a pandemic in 2020. That was with our doors closed and our AC’s off much of the year. And we are on pace to spend much more this year. People who see that is our current cost are shocked! They are like how do you cool a building that size for just a little more than a good size home. Answer: a lot of management! The cost of electricity continues to rise and so does the use of our building. That is why I have been accurately saying that our cost is closer to $700, and it is going to rise.) But we all need to do our part, the work part.
At the start of our meeting, we had $15k committed of the $25 that we had agreed we needed to start the project. Wise people count the cost before they start a project or go to ‘war’. Faith is not a LEAP IN THE DARK! That is another story that Jesus told (Luke 14:28-32) People who don’t count the cost OFTEN end up in a bad way. So we were short of the needed funds to move ahead.
For those in attendance and stayed for the dinner, you know what happened next. We agreed that it would be unwise to start without more funds. We all needed to seek God’s direction for what we should do. Before I had walked out of the auditorium, a couple who has been attending Faith for the past few months approached me and said “we want to give the $10k to get this project started!” We know this is the right thing to do. WOW! That is what I am talking about. That is Faith at Work! It is easy to say, “God can and will provide the funds.” Yes He can, but He uses you and me!
James says, you can’t simply say, “be warm and filled”. Like, what does that do? Nothing. God may have you “give the shirt off your back” to make that happen and you have to trust God to give you another one! James says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” Anyone who has been truly “saved” by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, will have a working faith! You can NOT have a genuine relationship with someone as BIG as God and not be changed!
There is not doubt that God is going to meet the need for our solar panels. We still need about $25k to pay for the total cost. Let’s continue to pray and seek God’s direction for what He would have us to do! Again, if we all do our part, regardless of what that is – $100, $500, or $10,000; we will be able to cover the total cost of this Faith Project!
Faith is at Work at Faith!
In His Good Grip,
Pastor Mike