{"id":31961,"date":"2022-09-10T15:50:50","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/3-ways-to-cultivate-a-congregation-that-exercises-faith\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:50:50","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:50:50","slug":"3-ways-to-cultivate-a-congregation-that-exercises-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/3-ways-to-cultivate-a-congregation-that-exercises-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Ways to Cultivate a Congregation That Exercises Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"
Pixabay photo – Pexels <\/p>\n

By Lynn H. Pryor<\/em><\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note:<\/em><\/strong> <\/em>What does a mature disciple of Christ look like? Over the past decade<\/em> <\/em>Lifeway Research<\/em> <\/em>has delved into this with thousands of pastors and church leaders.<\/em> <\/em>Culling through the data, we discovered that strong discipleship ministries and practices could be put in eight categories. We call these eight categories the<\/em> <\/em>signposts<\/em> <\/em>along the<\/em> <\/em>discipleship pathway.<\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n

One sign of growing disciples is that they exercise faith in their daily lives. The<\/em> <\/em>latest findings<\/em> <\/em>show churchgoers demonstrate faith but have room to grow. <\/em><\/p>\n

Faith may be a common word in our vocabulary, but we don\u2019t all use it the same way.<\/p>\n

For some people, the concept of faith is essentially wishful thinking: I have faith that they\u2019ll win the championship<\/em>. For others, the concept of faith is tied to a set of beliefs: I follow the Christian faith. <\/em><\/p>\n

And others see faith as something they can use to manipulate God: If you believe hard enough and have enough faith, God will do what you ask Him to do.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Faith is trust, taking God at His word and confidently trusting that He\u2019ll do what He said He would do. Faith can begin simply, even as we place our trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord.<\/p>\n

But as we mature in our faith, trust in God only grows deeper and we are more and more adept at trusting Him.<\/p>\n

In the research that indicated a mature believer exercises faith, it was noted that these believers knew the importance of living by faith as opposed to living by their own strength.<\/p>\n

Trusting in God deepens and reliance on self lessens. Exercising faith means risk-aversion is set aside. Maturing believers concern themselves with bold faithfulness to do God’s work. The concerns of personal cost become less concerning. The transformation that occurs because we put faith in God’s power results in faithful obedience.<\/p>\n

Two statements were strong among mature believers who exercise faith:<\/p>\n

1. \u201cI believe God has a purpose for all events in my life, regardless of whether I perceive each event as being good or bad.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our faith in Christ gives us new life in the eternal sense and redefines our perception about life here in this world.<\/p>\n

When we engage our faith in everyday living, it allows us to have a longer view of life\u2019s events. Rather than wishing our way out of difficulty, it gives us the opportunity to simply trust God\u2019s goodness no matter what we face.<\/p>\n

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See also  3 Practical Steps for Reaching the Mission Field in Your Neighborhood<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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2. \u201cI express praise and gratitude to God even in difficult circumstances.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The believer who is exercising faith can look beyond the current circumstances to the greater issues at work. They don\u2019t ignore what is happening, but by trusting and living by faith, they see life in light of all of God’s providence. Faith looks beyond difficulty and trusts in the character of God.<\/p>\n

The apostle Paul gave us a wonderful summary of what it means to exercise faith:<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me\u201d (Galatians 2:20).<\/p>\n

Rather than sinking into the doldrums when things go wrong, we keep our eyes lifted toward Christ. Exercising faith is a result of God\u2019s transforming work in our lives. As we grow in our sanctification and walk with Christ, we are able to follow more closely to Him. Our trust and faith only deepens.<\/p>\n

Here are several ways the Church can grow believers who exercise faith:<\/p>\n

1. Challenge believers.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Challenge people to give as an act of worship and trust in God\u2019s provision. Challenge them to get involved in a mission project or ministry and trust God to work.<\/p>\n

2. Provide opportunities to step out of their comfort zone.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Point to specific ministry and mission opportunities and encourage participation. When people step out of their comfort zones, they can experience God\u2019s presence and hand at work. The more they do this, the more they learn to trust God.<\/p>\n

3. Give testimonies.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Give a platform for individuals in the church to share how they learned to exercise faith. A testimony of how they learned to trust God in a specific situation encourages others to do the same.<\/p>\n

LYNN PRYOR (@lynnpryor) <\/strong>is a team leader in Lifeway\u2019s ongoing adult Bible study department. He also serves as an interim pastor in the Nashville area. Read more from his blog at <\/em>lynnhpryor.com<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n
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Don’t Give Up<\/h2>\n

Faith that gives you the confidence to keep believing and the courage to keep going<\/p>\n

FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Related posts:<\/h3>\n
What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times? What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation? 3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pixabay photo – Pexels By Lynn H. Pryor Editor\u2019s note: What does a mature disciple of Christ look like? Over the past decade Lifeway Research has delved into this with thousands of pastors and church leaders. Culling through the data, we discovered that strong discipleship ministries and practices could be put in eight categories. We call these eight categories … Continue reading “3 Ways to Cultivate a Congregation That Exercises Faith”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31961\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}