As a church family, we want to celebrate as we move forward with faith. God has done great things in and through our church in the past, but we believe that the future holds even greater things. To get to where God wants to take us, we must do more than just look forward, we must take action to move forward with faith. What is faith?
Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
You and I cannot see the future. We don’t know exactly what it holds, but God does. Moving forward with faith is to see God’s vision for our church and then take action to bring that vision to pass.
Hebrews 11:7 (NIV) By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.
Noah obeyed God. He prepared to build the ark and then he built it, even though everyone said he was crazy. He moved forward with faith. When we look forward as a church family, what is God’s vision for us? God’s vision is for us to grow. God wants each of us to grow in spiritual maturity and He wants our numbers to grow as we reach more people for Jesus.
Ephesians 2:21-22 (NIV) In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
These verses tell us that you and I are part of a spiritual church or temple that God is building right here at Life Church. God’s vision is for that spiritual church made of believers to continue to grow.
Listen to my October 25, 2009 message “Looking Forward With Faith” (message notes).