Genuine Faith

This past weekend the sermon taught at my church was so amazing. There is something about just grasping and soaking in what other people have to teach about God's word. I had to share some highlights from this past weekends sermon. A Pastor from my church talked about genuine faith and focused on the story of Timothy. I am going to share what he talked about and what I was able to take from the message as well.

There is a big difference between belief and faith. Well if you think of those two words you would think they mean the same think right? Well if you dig a littler deep they really aren't. You can believe but if you don't have faith you can't move forward with it. You can believe that a plane will keep you safe but if dont exercise it, you lack faith. You believe it will keep you safe but you don't actually follow through by getting on. "Genuine faith is belief lived out." Faith as it is defined in the bible is the belief in action. "You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God.Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror." James 2:19

To have genuine faith there are a couples things we have to do. Our Pastor described it in three bullet points.

Genuine Faith:

• Develops in community

• Develops with the word

• Develops with a training routine

• To have genuine faith we need to be in community. Whether that be being in a group or team such as bible study group, serving team or simply by getting to know those around you. We can be surrounded by the same people day by day, maybe thats even your co-workers that you see everyday but you really don't know them. Develop a sense of community.

• To have genuine faith we need to be reading the word. Our Pastor put it this way, "The scripture trains us for EVERY good work. Not just some but ALL." He gave us three things to focus on as we read the bible. In my perspective I think this is a great way to read the word. It can be difficult at times to read the bible, having these questions to focus on as you read can help you write down notes, thoughts and overall really see what God is trying to say to you through his word.

Here are the 3 questions you can answer as you read:

1. What did I read:

2. What did God say:

3. What is my response.

• Lastly to have genuine faith we need a training routine. Okay what's that? Well again our Pastor was on point this weekend, here's a quote of what he said about having a training routine. "Our physical body has an expiration date, our soul does not." Well that was deep. One thing we can do is worship. But like our Pastor put it, it's more than just singing songs it is living it. What we do, whats say, seeking repentance and having obedience. We need to live a life of worship.

I loved this sermon so much so I thought why not share it. I was able to take so much from it and develop it further from my thoughts and what I believe may be beneficial in my life. I want to have genuine faith and live a life with genuine life. There is so much we can do to be a better version of ourselves and here is small step towards that.