We Need a Little Faith
There’s Always Tension between Faith and Doubt
In one of my favorite movies of all time, Miracle on 34th Street, a little girl by the name of Susan is struggling to believe in Santa. I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about this… but FAITH is an important part of Christmas.
At one point, Kris Kringle is talking to Susan’s mom about her daughter’s lack of faith in him. Kris says…
“If you can’t accept anything on faith, then you’re doomed for a life dominated by doubt.”
– Kris Kringle, Miracle on 34th Street
We live in a world that lacks faith. We lack faith in God and we lack faith in each other. We live in a world dominated by doubt.
People have more questions than answers and more doubts than ever before. More and more people are deconstructing their faith. Some people are walking away from faith and more often than not, that’s not because of anything Jesus ever said or did. So many times people lose their faith in God not because God let them down but because someone in their life let them down.
Maybe you’re holding on to faith today, but only by a thread. Maybe you believe in God. Maybe you want to believe in God. Or maybe you want to want to believe in God. Wherever you are on that spectrum, I’ve got some good news for you…
God can meet you where you are, as you are, and in a world full of doubt you can build your life on your FAITH in Him.
400 Years Holding onto Faith
This is the Christmas story. For 400 years there was no word from God, no prophet of God. Talk about a world full of doubt!
If you count the years between Malachi… the last prophet in the Old Testament, the Jewish Bible, and the time when Jesus entered the story you come up with 400 years. That’s a long time to experience the silence of God.
Maybe you’re having a hard time hearing from God right now. Maybe you’re struggling with faith because God seems distant, silent, maybe even absent from your life.
Can I reassure you? Even when God feels distant, He’s near. Even when He seems silent, you can hear his voice. In fact, His voice is most often heard in the sound of silence. And even if God feels absent, the truth of the gospel is that he is closer than your next breath.
But it all starts with your faith in God’s Son, Jesus. Our Savior, the Light of the World, who stepped down from Heaven and was born in Bethlehem. The fullness of God inside the frailty of a human child.
Emmanuel. God with us.
IFTTT
You see the importance of our faith evident in the writings of the early church. Listen to what the Apostle Paul once wrote in this letter to first century Christians…
And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. – Colossians 2.6-7
Paul is writing to a group of Christians living in a very pagan society, not too different than ours. Paul is writing to a group of Christ followers who are being heavily influenced by other religious beliefs, not too unlike our own culture. Paul is writing to a church who is contending for their faith to be free of the traditions and legalism of those who came before them. Once again, not too different from us.
And the Apostle Paul wants to remind them… you accepted Jesus Christ as Lord. You put your FAITH in Him. Because of that, you must continue to follow Him!
I’ve got this app on my phone called IFTTT. Anyone else have this app? It’s awesome.
IFTTT stands for, If This Then That. It’s an automation app. You can use it to automate certain tasks that just make your life a little easier.
For example, I’m always looking for stories or quotes or good ideas and I’ve got an automation set up in IFTTT so that every time I favorite a tweet, it gets saved into a note on my computer and phone. That way, whenever I’m working on new material for a sermon or a project of some kind I’ve got a whole list of great ideas to use as a resource if I need it! It’s a simple app that automates action.
If This, Then That.
Paul is using this same kind of principle here…
IF you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, THEN you must continue to follow him.
IF This, THEN That.
It all begins with FAITH. If you have accepted Jesus as Lord.
And if you haven’t, can I ask, “Why not?” If you want to do something this Christmas to demonstrate your faith in Jesus, if you want to give God a gift he’ll never forget, why don’t you give Him your life? Why don’t you confess Jesus as the Lord and Savior of your life if you believe that Jesus is who He says He is?
If you’ve never stepped into the waters of baptism, what’s holding you back? Scripture is clear on this point, every one who ever believed in Jesus, put their faith in Jesus, was baptized into Christ. Some of you need to take that step of faith and if that’s you, let me just ask you, why NOT do that today?
Some of you have placed your faith in Jesus. You have confessed Jesus as the Lord and Savior of your life. And IF you have, THEN you MUST continue to FOLLOW JESUS!
We live in a FOLLOW CULTURE.
We follow a lot of people, a lot of teams, a lot of brands, blogs, companies, authors, influencers, and more. It’s not uncommon for someone to ask you, Who do you follow? And what they’re asking is, Who do you follow on social media? Who do you keep up with, pay attention to, who do you choose to be influenced by?
Paul says, IF you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, THEN you must continue to follow him.
Why?
Because Paul knows that FAITH COMES FROM FOLLOWING.
How did the disciples of Jesus have such incredible faith in Him?
Every one of them, except John, died a martyrs death. Every one of them preached Jesus until their dying day. How did they have such extraordinary faith in Jesus? Because… THEY HAD FOLLOWED HIM EVERY DAY EVERY WHERE FOR THREE YEARS!
They knew what he could do. They had seen it over and over again. They saw Him feed the hungry. Heal the sick. Walk on water. Calm the storms. They had seen it all. And when He rose from the grave and Thomas saw his wounds and touched his skin, their faith was confirmed!
The disciples followed him daily for three years and it changed them forever.
Faith Comes from Following
FAITH COMES FROM FOLLOWING. From taking that long walk with God in the same direction.
And IF you follow Jesus daily, THEN you will find faith. That same kind of faith will be formed in you because FAITH COMES FROM FOLLOWING.
LASTING FAITH COMES FROM FOLLOWING JESUS OVER TIME.
There are NO SHORTCUTS to faith. It’s time spent daily in His presence over time that produces lasting faith.
TIMEOUT: We need those of you who have been following Jesus for a long time to lead the way forward in faith, not FEAR. We need you to be the ones who say, “Do not be afraid. It’s going to be okay! I’ve seen this before. We’ve been here before. God helped us then and I believe he will help us now!”
What Paul wants for these early Christ followers and what he wants for us is for our FAITH in Jesus to grow.
Let Faith Grow
Paul says…
Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
Several weeks ago back in the summer, I was taking our dog for a walk one night in our neighborhood. We were just making our way down different streets some of which I hadn’t been on before, when I came upon this tree.
I had a moment when I came to this tree. I was thinking about my life, I was thinking about church, I was talking to God about what He was doing and wondering about the future. And that’s when God showed me this tree. As you can see, there’s a new tree growing up right in the middle of this older tree. This old tree is giving birth to a new tree. Old life giving birth to new life. Something new springing up right in the middle of something that had been there before.
And I realized, this is what God is doing in ME.
As I continue daily to spend time in His presence, as I seek to follow Him each day, even though I don’t do it perfectly and I often fail and fall short, still… by His grace, my roots are slowly but steadily growing down into His love. Slowly but surely, my life is being built on Him. And thank God, His mercies are new every morning.
By His grace, Christ is making His home in my heart. Something new growing in the midst of something old. This is the gospel story. Paul says it plain as day in Colossians 1.27: “…this is the secret: Christ lives in you.”
You thought the Christmas story, the story that gives hope to the world, was all about Jesus being born in a manger. But here’s the secret… it’s really all about Christ being born in YOU!
Something new springing up right in the middle of something that had been there before.
As I looked at this tree I realized, this is what God is doing in ME.
And I realized, this is what God is doing in US.
As we continue to gather weekly to spend time in His word and in His presence, as we seek to follow Him each day as a church, even though we don’t do it perfectly and we often fall short, still… by His grace, our roots are slowly but steadily growing down into His love.
Slowly but surely, our lives are being built on Him. And thank God, His mercies are new every morning. By His grace, Christ is making His home in our hearts. Something new growing in the midst of something old. This is the gospel story. “…this is the secret: Christ lives in you.” – Colossians 1.27
Maybe what we need this Christmas is to believe it!
Christmas is all about Faith
Maybe what you need this Christmas is a little FAITH.
Faith that Jesus has come and that one day He will come again. Faith that Jesus lives IN you, or faith that realizes Jesus wants to live IN you.
By the end of the movie, Miracle on 34th Street, little Susan finally comes to believe in Kris Kringle as the real Santa Claus.
Susan believes.
She believes because she watched him over and over again interact with other children in special and amazing ways. She saw him speak foreign languages and even ASL to a little girl who was deaf. She saw his kindness and concern for others. Most of all, she had developed a relationship with him. She trusted him. And in the end, he delivered on a promise. He did something only Santa could do for her, and when he did she found faith.
Christmas is all about faith. Christmas is all about believing.
The question now is, do you believe? Not in Santa, but in Jesus?
You come to believe in Jesus much in the same way Susan came to believe in Santa. You see how over and over again he works in people’s lives, maybe even your own life, in amazing ways. You see the evidence of His goodness all around you. You watch as His concern for others reaches those who are hurting, lonely, afraid, and in need. You see His kindness for others on display. You may see that evidenced in the lives of people who follow Him, in His church!
Most of you, as you develop a relationship with Him see how that relationship changes your own life. You notice how you are being drawn to deeper faith, hope, and love. And in the end, you’ll see how God always delivers on His promises. That He is with you, for you, and that you never walk alone.
This is the faith we have at Christmas: that God is with us!
And… IF you BELIEVE in Him, THEN continue to FOLLOW Him.
May we believe, follow, and experience a growing faith in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World!
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