Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Characteristics of Great Faith

Toss Child Matthew 8 tells a story that, I believe, contains one of the most powerful verses in all of the Bible.  In vs. 10, Jesus says, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel."  The faith of the centurion He met in this chapter was greater than any faith He'd ever come across.  He hadn't even found someone with faith like this among God's people.

As I looked at this passage the other day, I started wondering what it was about the faith of this man that impressed Jesus so much.  We don't have a lot of Scripture dealing with this man, but we do have a little and a few characteristics jumped out at me.

1. Great faith knows Who to turn to (vs. 5).  The faith of this centurion caused him to turn to Jesus when he was in need.

2. Great faith understands the need (vs. 6).  Strong faith gives us the eyes to see the needs of people around us.

3. Great faith causes compassion for others (vs. 6).  The man was obviously moved by the condition of his servant.  He told Jesus that the servant was "grievously tormented."

4. Great faith causes humility (vs. 8).  The centurion said he wasn't worthy for Jesus to come to his house.  Faith will make us humble before God as well.  By nature, faith is the reaction to our understanding that we can't.

5. Great faith recognizes the power of God (vs. 8).  The centurion told Jesus to simply speak and his servant would be healed.

6. Great faith knows who is in charge (vs. 9).  The military man understood a chain of command.  He also understood that God is always ultimately in charge.

Obviously, these thoughts could be elaborated on greatly, but I hope they at least get you thinking about your faith.  Do you see any of these characteristics in your life?

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

TBC Grand Opening

I'm sorry it's taken over a week to give a report on the Grand Opening service that took place on the 13th.  It's been busy.

God blessed the service in a great way.  At least 350 people were in attendance.  Over 30 families were there visiting for the first time.  At least 2 people trusted Christ as their Saviour.  It was a great event to be a part of.  We have a lot of work to do following up on all the visitors.  We're praying that many of them will find a place to grow in Christ right here at Timberline Baptist.

Another thing: Click here for an extremely powerful blog post by Trey Morgan.  It's a thought you've probably never thought of before and it will make you very grateful for God's grace.

Another thing, again: Kim is due in less than 2 weeks!  I'm going to have a baby girl!  We're very excited.  Pray that Jacqueline is healthy and happy.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Grand Opening Tomorrow!

TBC Auditorium It's been a very busy week at Timberline Baptist Church.  We just got done with an awesome Revival Meeting with Dr. John Goetsch.  God moved in our church in a powerful way.  Click here and listen to the Sunday night sermon called "God's Use of the Broken."  If you aren't challenged by that message, I don't know if it's possible for you to be challenged.

Tomorrow afternoon is our Grand Opening service for our new building.  We have invited the mayor of Sherwood, contractors who worked on the building, friends, family and coworkers.  We also mailed a postcard to 35,000 homes in the area.  We're not really sure what's going to happen.  God knows what we can handle.  I'll give a report on the day tomorrow afternoon.  Keep us in your prayers!

Friday, January 4, 2008

The Pursuit

I was thinking about our Declaration of Independence this morning and specifically about the famous statement: "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." As the differences between Republicans and Democrats are made blatantly obvious during this election season, a thought came to me. Liberal philosophies and politics has a tendency to feed a great character flaw in our society. That character flaw is the attitude of entitlement.

Nobody that I know would say we don't have the right to life, liberty and happiness. However, the welfare mentality that is prevelent on the Left has removed the idea of pursuing happiness. Our founding fathers were extremely wise. They understood that happiness is a right, but that it also takes work to achieve. We live in a day where more and more people want their retirement, health care, education, groceries, etc. taken care of for them. We are entitled to it after all. Our culture needs to regain the character trait of pursuing the happiness they have the God given right to enjoy.

Off subject: why is "Brit Stripped of Custody Rights" the 3rd of 3 major headlines on Foxnews.com right now? Do that many people really care? Sad.