Faith

 

FAITH IS INDISPENSIBLE in the lives of individual Christians (Hebrews 11:6)...

 

Faith is also the vital ingredient for church growth.  The words "faith" and "belief" are used almost 500 times in the New Testament.  No individual or congregation can ever be great without faith!

 

The contemporary religious scene offers no shortage of church growth experts who tout a wide variety of leadership styles, management plans, and growth strategies for building bigger, better, more exciting churches.  In the final analysis, however, real growth in any congregation will never rise above the level of faith of its membership and leadership!

 

How can you determine whether or not a church possesses genuine faith?

 

A church with faith is a working church.  James says, "But someone may wells say, 'You have faith and I have works'; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works" (James 2:18).  A church's faith is measured by the energetic service, involvement, and sacrificial commitment of its members.  Faith finds a way!  We must dream, but we must also work our dreams!

 

A church with faith has its heart on God.  We must never leave God out of the picture.  Too often we talk of future plans and needed works as though God were not even involved.  We conclude that some things are "impossible" or "out of the question" because we have eliminated God from the discussion.  We made the mistake of trying to calculate the future of the church with an adding machine and a slide rule, without leaving room for God!  We may plant and water, but it is God who gives the increase!

 

Genuine faith is highly visible -- it can be seen!  Our problem is that we try to build churches the wrong way around -- we want the results of faith without the rigors of faith!  But faith cannot be counterfeited or imitated.  It must be real to produce real church growth!  Bobby Dockery

 

"So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God."  Romans 10:17