Living by Faith: October 2nd - 8th

This Week & Beyond...

Good day everyone!!  Yes, I know it's a little shocking, I haven't added a post in sometime, well, crawl back onto your chair and check out the news!!

KICK OFF MEETING!!
While it will have been two months since we've been back in the swing of things, I'm still gonna call it a KICK OFF MEETING!!.  Stop yelling Greg! 

October 29th, @ 5pm, we will be gathering at Tony & Lisa's for some food & fellowship.  Wings, salads, laughing, etc, to be exact!!  Yum!  It's going to be a grand time, and, if that's all we did, well, it'd be just great!  However, that's not all.  After a short time at18 Ramsey's Gate, we will be departing to a secret location for a time of team building and fun!!  You don't want to miss this.  Actually, you're not allowed unless you have a really good excuse!!

Date: October 29th, 5pm - 9pm
Cost: $10/person
Location: 18 Rams Gate & secret location to be announced whence there! Mooo ha ha haaaaa

Please respond as to your availability at your earliest convenience.  

Blessings!!
Gregory

Devotional...

Living by Faith
by Tom Kraeuter, Hillsboro, Missouri

The just shall live by faith. (Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38)

I just finished reading the book, There Is A God, by Antony Flew. On the cover, the title actually looks like There Is No God, but "No" is crossed out and "A" is hand-written over it. You see, Antony Flew was an atheist. Actually, he was one of the most outspoken, oft-quoted and published atheists in history. In fact, his 1950 essay, "Theology and Falsification," became the most widely reprinted philosophical publication of the last half century.

But Flew has seemingly always had an inclination to follow the facts, regardless of where they might lead. If the evidence led him in a direction that was opposed to a previous position he had taken, he had no problem changing his mind. He actually did that more than once over the course of his career. So, as scientific discoveries became more and more profound, looking ever more deeply into life and matter, the evidence began to convince Flew that there is indeed a Creator. As he pondered the facts, he ultimately decided it was time to recant his atheistic stance. Antony Flew, a philosopher for more than sixty years, now says that, based on the evidence, there clearly is a God.

Some of his statements echo something that I have said for years: It takes more faith to believe there is no God, than it does to believe there is One. After all, how can one gaze upon the variety and grandeur of creation and think there is no Creator? How can anyone look at the increasing scientific discoveries that depict order -- and that lean away from evolution -- and think it all just happened? I really do have to respect someone who has that much "faith" to think there is no Creator. They certainly seem to have more faith than I have.

The very thought of that last statement puts me to shame. Atheists with more faith than me, a worship leader? To be clear, their faith is grossly misplaced. Nevertheless, it is a form of faith.

Faith. That's an interesting word. Just five letters in English and either six or seven (depending on the form) in Greek. Yet it forms the foundation of how we as Christians are to live: by faith. Confidently trusting in God and His promises.

If you read Hebrews 10, the great "faith" chapter, you'll see a panoply of our ancestors, those who have gone before us, who lived their lives confidently trusting in God and His promises. They were all just sinful human beings like you and me. Yet they trusted the Lord. Their faith was placed squarely in God and His Word.

That's a great example for you and me to follow. As people who have been made "just" -- that is, justified by Christ -- we should live our lives by faith, trusting confidently in God and His promises. 

Of course, this also then includes our roles in worship ministry. We're not there just playing our instruments or using our voices. If we're honest about it, we should be trusting that God is working in and through our meager offerings of music, art and spoken words to bring glory to Himself and to bring life to His people. 

Are you confidently trusting that the Lord is working through you in the worship ministry of your church? If you haven't been, why not-- right now -- ask Him to do that?

GOING DEEPER:
1. What difference do you think it might make if you came into your services not just to do your musical part, but fully confident that God was working through your efforts?
2. Have you asked Him to grant you the faith to believe that He is doing that? If not, why now do that right now?