What Kind of Faith Do You Have?

In Mark 5 we read of two people who came to Jesus seeking help. One was a synagogue official whose daughter was dying. The other was a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for 12 years.

These two people could not have been more different. However, they were very similar in the way they expressed their faith in Christ. They both showed humility. They both fell at the feet of Jesus.

They both were persistent in coming to Jesus because they had to make their way through large crowds that were surrounding Him.

They both came to Jesus out of a strong sense of desperation. They had to get to Christ. They were desperate and they knew Jesus was the only one who could help them.

They were very different people but they came with a similar faith and Jesus graciously received both of them.

Do you have that kind of faith? Is your hope in the Lord?

All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

Jesus is Gracious

Mark 5 tells us that as Jesus was making his way to the home of a synagogue official He was surrounded by a crowd of people. One person in that crowd was a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for 12 years. She was determined to get to Jesus because she believed that if she could just touch His cloak she would be healed.

She did reach Jesus. She did touch His cloak and she was healed.

Jesus stopped to talk to this woman. She was initially afraid because she didn’t want Jesus to know that she had touched him. However, Jesus was gracious to her. In fact, He told her that her faith had saved her. Not only was she physically healed, but all her sin was forgiven. She now had eternal life.

All who put their hope in Christ will find Him gracious.

At Believers Fellowship our hope is in the Lord.

All our information can be found online at believers-fellowship.org.

Turn to the Lord

In Mark 5 we read of a woman who had had a hemorrhage for 12 years. Her condition would have made her religiously unclean, meaning that she could not attend the synagogue. To not attend synagogue would be to be cut off from all social life.

So this woman suffered physically and socially. She also suffered financially. She spent all she had trying to find a cure for her condition but in the end she was worse, not better. Like many people today, she had put her hope in medicine.

In her desperation, this woman turns to Jesus believing that He can do for her what no one else can. She places her hope in the Lord and the Lord delivers her.

Do you have a sense of hopelessness today? Have you tried everything else but nothing has helped? Turn to the Lord. He is available and He is impartial. He can help like no one else.

Join us Sunday. All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

Jesus is Impartial

In Mark 5 we see Jesus responding to the request of a Synagogue ruler to come help his daughter who was dying. By responding, Jesus shows how compassionate and available He is to hurting people.

Some might think that he responded to this man because he was an important individual and that Jesus wouldn’t do that for just anyone.

However, along the way Jesus stops to heal a woman who has had a hemorrhage for 12 years. This woman was in a hopeless situation. Every human means had been tried to cure her, but all had failed.

Because of her condition she would have been considered unclean by the religious people of her day, but she reached out to Jesus and He did not send her a way. This shows us that Jesus is not only available, but He is impartial.

He provides hope to those with or without social status.

At Believers Fellowship our hope is in the Lord.

All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

Jesus is Available

In the second half of Mark 5 we read of a hopeless situation. The 12 year old daughter of a synagogue ruler had died.

This hopeless situation provided the opportunity for Jesus to do what only He can do and give you and me reasons to place our hope in the Lord.

One thing to note is how available Jesus is. Jesus and His disciples had arrived by boat to Capernaum and they couldn’t even get off the beach before Jesus was mobbed. The synagogue ruler fights His way through the crowd and begs Jesus to come help his daughter. Jesus didn’t tell him to make an appointment; amazingly, Jesus went with Him.

Jesus is available to hurting people like no one else can be. He is available to you anytime, anywhere. No friend, spouse, or pastor can do that. Nobody can respond or help like Him.

At Believers Fellowship our hope is in the Lord.

Join us Sunday. All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

Where is Your Hope?

Because of who Jesus Christ is and what He does, you and I can set our hope on Him. The Bible tells us to fix our hope on Christ. And it is vitally important that our hope is set and fixed on Christ.

The Bible tells us that hope produce a steadfastness in the Christian life. It is hope that keeps us going. The Bible also tells us that hope has a purifying effect in our lives. We need our hope settled on the person of Christ.

A hope that is fixed on something other than Christ will lead to things like discouragement, discord, depression, and divorce. A misplaced hope, a hope that is fixed on the things of this world, will lead to disappointments and, ultimately, destruction.

The cure to all of the symptoms of a false hope is to turn to Christ and fix your hope in Him.

At Believers Fellowship our hope is in the Lord.

All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

Hope for the Hopeless

In the second half of Mark 5 we read about Jesus healing a woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years and raising back to life a dead 12 year old girl.

These were two situations that were completely hopeless from a human perspective. In the case of the woman we are told that every human resource had been explored and found lacking.
There was no human cure that could be of help to this woman who had suffered so miserably for 12 years.

And there is no human resource that can bring back the dead. In both situations the hopelessness of the condition is well established. But that simply sets the stage for Jesus to do what only He can do.

Only Jesus can give hope to the hopeless. In both situations a desperate appeal was made to Jesus and He did more than could be imagined.

Is your hope in the Lord?

Worship with us Sunday. All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org

So Which One Are You?

Over the last three weeks we have talked about the stable Christian. We’ve said that some Christians are like thermometers. Their spiritual experience goes up and down depending on what’s happening around them. They react. Other Christians are like a thermostat. They control the environment around them because they act instead of react and they act guided by godly wisdom.

These stable Christians have God’s Word as their priority. They have their hearts fixed on the person of Christ. Stable believers live their lives for the purpose of glorifying God. They have a peace that comes from their confidence in God. These believers are also persistent in their pursuit of spiritual realities. Lastly, these stable Christians have a passion for the Lord that fuels their lives.

So would you consider yourself to be a Christian who is more like the thermometer or the thermostat?

At Believers Fellowship we want to be stable Christians bearing a testimony for God.

Join us this Sunday. All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

Passion

Stable Christians are those who are not pushed around by the circumstances of life. They are stable because that have made God’s Word the priority in their lives. They have their heart focused on the person of Christ. They live for a very definite purpose – to glorify God. These believers know peace because they are confident in their great God. And these believers are persistent in seeking after God’s kingdom and His righteousness.

One other characteristic of the stable Christian is that they are passionate. Their stability doesn’t come from just a grit your teeth and grind it out kind of spirituality. These believers have hearts that are on fire for their Savior.

These Christians have seen the darkness of their own sin and they are repulsed by it. Having seen Christ in all His purity they have fled to Him and they want to cling to Him.

At Believers Fellowship we want to be passionate about Christ.

Join us Sunday. All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

Seeking First

Stable Christians all demonstrate certain characteristics. They have God’s Word as a priority in their lives. Their thoughts are focused on the person of Jesus Christ. They live their lives for the purpose of glorifying God. They also know great peace because they have confidence in their God.

Another characteristic of a stable Christian is that they are persistent. Jesus said that we are to seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness. The stable Christian is one who faithfully, persistently obeys this command.

To seek God’s kingdom is to pour ourselves into things of eternal consequence. The stable Christian doesn’t get hung up by the trivial.

To seek God’s righteousness is to hunger and thirst for holiness, godliness, and Christlikeness.
The stable Christian will persistently seek these things even in the face of opposition. And the stable Christian pursues these spiritual priorities trusting that God will provide everything else that’s needed along the way.

Join us as we follow after the Lord. All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

Great Peace

Some Christians are like thermometers. They go up and down depending on circumstances. Other Christians are like thermostats. They live a life of stability.

Stable Christians have a priority – the Word of God.

Stable Christians are focused on a person – the Lord Jesus Christ

Stable Christians live with a purpose – the glory of God.

And stable Christians enjoy a great peace.

The stable Christian lives with the confident peace that comes from knowing that their God has everything under control. The stable Christian knows that God’s sovereign control extends in every direction.

The Bible tells us that God is in control of the physical realm, all people, and every event. God’s purposes will be accomplished and nothing can stop Him.

The Christian can be sure that everything comes to them through God’s sovereign hand and that He is using everything for the good of that believer.

Peace comes from having a biblical view of God’s power and knowledge.

Join us in worship. All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

Do You Believe?

A stable Christian is one who lives with a clear sense of purpose. That purpose is to glorify God. We glorify God by confessing Jesus as Lord. We glorify God by confessing our sin. We glorify God by enduring opposition. We also glorify God by believing His promises.

The Bible tells us that God made a promise to Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son. This promise was made when Abraham was 75 and Sarah was 65, well past child-bearing age. But then it was another 25 years until this promise was fulfilled.

However, Romans 4:18-21 tells us that Abraham glorified God by trusting in God’s promise.
Unbelief doubts God and implies that He cannot be trusted. That detracts from God’s glory. Sometimes it’s not easy to believe God’s promises. It seems like they take a long time. But God is glorified when we trust Him.

Do you think God keeps His Word?

Join us Sunday for worship. All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

Willing to Suffer?

Some Christians are like thermometers. They go up and down depending on circumstances. Other Christians are like thermostats controlling their environment by living with a purpose. That purpose is not to get what they want, but to give God glory.

The Bible tells us a number of ways that we give glory to God. One of those ways is by enduring sufferings that might come our way as Christians. We glorify God by being willing to suffer for Him.

This is an important commitment to have because the Bible tells us that everyone committed to glorifying God will suffer and therefore, we glorify God when we endure that suffering.

The Apostle Peter wrote his first letter to suffering Christians. He told them not to be ashamed but to glorify God as Christians even if we are being rejected and persecuted by others.

We glorify God by being faithful to Him even in the face of opposition.

Join us in glorifying God. All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

Confessing Sin to the Glory of God

Stable Christians have the Scriptures as their priority. They have the person of Christ as their focus. And they live for the purpose of glorifying God.

The Bible tells us that one way we glorify God is by confessing our sin. In Joshua 7, Joshua confronted a man named Achan and told him to glorify God and confess his sin. When we confess our sin we agree with God that what we did was a violation of His law. Therefore we recognize His holiness and justice. We magnify God’s perfect character when we confess our sin.

To excuse your sin is to impugn God. It is to attack His character and His standard. When you absolve yourself of responsibility you, in effect, blame God for what happened. That’s what Adam did when he blamed his sin on the woman that God had given him.

We must confess our sin and give God glory.

Join us in worshipping our Savior. All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

Abundant Opportunities to Glorify God

Stable Christian living comes from a commitment to glorify God in everything. And everything includes the routine events of life like the everyday duties and the ordinary conversations. How we conduct ourselves in these circumstances determines largely whether we will glorify God in our lives.

There are many Christians who work in a difficult environment and it can be very tempting to join with the crowd in complaining. Some believers have a stressful home environment with an unsupportive spouse, or resisting children, or harsh parents. In those kinds of situations it can be hard to resist the opportunity to gripe about them.

The reality is that life is a hassle for most people. That just means that we have abundant opportunities to glorify God in how we treat people or how we respond to the way others treat us.

Will you be pushed around by the hassles of life or purpose to glorify God in them?

Join us in glorifying God. All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

Resolved

Stable Christians live their lives for the purpose of glorifying God. These believers have resolved that they will live to glorify God. This is the aim and direction of their lives.

What is the aim of your life? Is it to be successful, happy, or prosperous? Is your goal to be thought of as a good parent or a business professional? Having goals like this can cause instability in your life because these kinds of goals can be slippery and not completely under your control.

God’s glory must be our chief aim. All other goals must be secondary. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says that whatever we do we are to do it all to the glory of God.

We must prefer God above everything else. We must prefer Him above money, fame, honor, success, friends, and family. We must seek to please God above everyone else.

At Believers Fellowship we want to glorify God in every way.

Join us this Sunday. All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

Confessing Jesus is Lord

Some Christians are like thermometers just reacting to the circumstances surrounding them. Other Christians are like thermostats because they control their environment by acting according to godly wisdom, not just reacting.

The stable Christian has made a priority of God’s Word. They have their lives focused on the person of Jesus Christ. And, the stable Christian lives their life for the purpose of glorifying God.

What are some ways that we can glorify God? The Bible tells us several ways. One way is by confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord. Philippians 2:11 tells us that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Sooner or later, everybody will confess that Jesus is Lord.

By doing it now, you will bring glory to God. Have you done that? You can’t begin to glorify God until you bow before Christ.

At Believers Fellowship we seek to honor our Lord Jesus.

Join us Sunday. All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

What's Your Purpose?

Some Christians are like thermometers. They go up and down depending on circumstances.

Other Christians are like thermostats. They control their situations by acting according to Godly wisdom.

This stability comes through having the Word of God as the priority in their lives and, as a result, having their focus on the person of Jesus Christ.

The stable Christian also has a clear sense of purpose. They understand that their purpose in life is to glorify God. The stable Christian is consumed with the desire to see God glorified.

Glorifying God basically means to live in response to His glory. By His glory we speak of the sum of all His perfect attributes. As we learn about the character of God through searching the Scripture and focusing on Christ we then seek to reflect that glory in our own lives. We let our light shine for Him.

At Believers Fellowship we want to glorify God in all we do.

Join us Sunday. All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

What Person Has Your Attention?

Spiritual Stability in the life of a Christian comes from having the Bible as a priority. The believer must delight in the Scripture and be a serious student of it.

As the Christian takes up this priority they will find their lives becoming even more focused on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ said that the Scripture testifies to Him. Christ is at the center of the Bible’s message.

Having our attention on Christ helps us to live a stable life where we are not pushed around by changing circumstances. Focusing on Christ will help us set our minds on the things above and not on the things that are on the earth as Colossians 3:2 tells us.

What person has your attention? It is so easy for us to get distracted. But spiritual stability doesn’t come any other way except by having our attention focused on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Join us Sunday. All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

What Do You Delight In?

Spiritual stability comes from having the Word of God as a priority in our lives. This is vividly demonstrated in Psalm 119. This Psalm is the longest chapter in the Bible and it is all about the power of the word of God.

If you read the Psalm you’ll see that the writer was facing many difficulties and pressures. For example, in verse 86 he says he is being persecuted with a lie. He was being oppressed unfairly.

Where did he turn for help? To the Scripture. In verse 24 he says God’s testimonies are his counselors. Also, 8 times in this psalm, the writer says that he delights in God’s Word. That’s what makes the difference.

This psalmist was facing very difficult circumstances but because of his commitment to Scripture he knew stability and contentment in his life. In verse 165 he says, “Those who love your law have great peace.”

Join us at Believers Fellowship as we study God’s powerful Word. All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

Bonus Blog: Have We Lost Our Minds? Part 2

Sarah Palin is a 44 year old mother of five. The youngest is four months old and down syndrome. A few days ago I raised the question of a mother adequately fulfilling the responsibilities of being a mother while, at the same time, being governor of Alaska or vice-president of the country. I raised the question because it seemed like the "official" Christian response was to support Palin's selection because she is strongly pro-life. I said that while it is good to be pro-life, being a mother is more important than being a governor or vice-president.

Well, by now you have probably heard that Mrs. Palin's 17 year old daughter is pregnant out of wedlock. The good news is that she is going to keep the child and she will marry the father of the child. This seems to satisfy the conservative "Christian" voting base. Along with this we are being told that family issues are off limits for discussion and that a lot of families have to struggle through issues like unwanted pregnancies.

Again, we see a brushing aside of an important issue. Fornication is no small thing. Now I'm not coming down on Mrs. Palin's daughter or Mrs. Palin. I'm sure this is a very difficult issue for them and having the whole world informed about it can't help. My concern is with the "Christian" response that, "Hey, these things happen." Yes they do happen and as a pastor I am very aware of this. But that does not mean that this is a small or insignificant matter.

It seems that as a country we have lost our ability to discern and the "Christian community," which should be the conscience of society, isn't helping any.

Our country stands in need of a real revival where people will turn away from the all too prevalent "Christian fluff" and turn to the objective truth of Scripture which alone reveals to us the mind of God.

The Priority is God's Word

Some Christians are like thermometers. Their spiritual life goes up and down depending on their circumstances. Other Christians are like thermostats. They don’t just react to circumstances, they act based on a wisdom that comes from God. Thus, they know stability in their life.

How did these Christians gain this kind of stability? It comes from having a priority. That priority is the Word of God.

Now, there are a lot of Christians who say the Bible is their priority but when it comes right down to dealing with the issues of life they will rely on all kinds of other things besides the Bible.
For example they will go by their feelings, or tradition, or man’s teaching, or cultural norms, or humanistic psychology. All of this will lead to spiritual instability.

The Bible is the only totally reliable source for faith and living.

At Believers Fellowship we want to learn the Bible and live lives of spiritual stability.

Join us any Sunday. All our information is online at believers-fellowship.org.

Thermometer or Thermostat?

Let me ask you a question? In your spiritual life are you more like a thermometer or a thermostat?

A thermometer responds to the climate around it. It goes up and down depending on the climate. It is a reacting instrument.

Some Christians are like that. Their spiritual condition goes up and down because all they do is react to the circumstances around them.

Others are like a thermostat. A thermostat controls the climate rather than reacting to it. Some Christians are like this thermostat because they act rather than just react. These believers act according to the truth of God’s Word. They control the situation by doing the godly thing – like returning good for evil or blessing those who persecute them.

The thermostatic Christian is one who enjoys spiritual stability in their life. So, are you a thermometer or a thermostat?

At Believers Fellowship we want to know spiritual stability in our lives. Join us this Sunday. You’ll find all our information online at believers-fellowship.org.