introduction
Faith lies at the heart of the Christian life. We begin it with a step of faith, trusting in what Jesus Christ has done for us, and giving our lives over to him. God’s plan is that we should continue our Christian lives in an attitude of faith: each day relying on him for help, and coming back again and again for all the resources we need. This faith should then merge into faithfulness, for they are two sides of the same coin. The aim of this session is to help us engage our faith more fully with everyday life and to recognise that the testing of our faith is necessary for faithfulness in God.
welcome
Feedback on how people have managed to serve their friends from last week.
worship
Use Isaiah 40 for your worship. Give sections of it to different people to meditate on, and then give their reflections. Together lay hold those things in God that Isaiah experienced.
word
read
Some people imagine that when Christians talk about faith we mean a leap in the dark. But our faith is based on sure foundations.
- What was the strong evidence on which Abraham based his faith?
reflect
Take some time to share what evidence we each have which helps us to have faith in God. Give people a few moments to reflect back on their life with God. Then go round the group and ask everyone to talk about the things they have experienced in their lives that give them faith.
read
discuss
Abraham’s initial faith developed into faithfulness over many years. Discuss what faithfulness involved for Abraham, looking in detail through the passage. See, for example, vs.8-10: ideas such as obedience, willingness to go anywhere for God, to live in uncongenial situations, in material poverty, living not for the present but for God’s eternal reward.
Faith is cultivated in seasons of pressure and uncertainty. How we respond in these times is a measure of the quality of our faith.
- Will we keep going even when the going is tough?
- How will we react when everything appears to have gone wrong and even God seems deaf to our prayers?
- Is our initial faith growing to such an extent that we will remain faithful to God whatever happens?
application
Building our faith up is an important part of being a Christian so that we may always bear fruit, even in times of drought (Jeremiah 17:7,8). Discuss together what are the things we can be doing to give us a stronger grasp of our faith e.g. studying the Bible, meeting together, embracing suffering, fasting, getting a heart for the lost, discipleship. Are we doing this? What decisions are we brave enough to make today?
Remember again to hold one another to account and find out in a few weeks time whether or not we are following our decisions!
Ask if anyone in your group is going through a situation at the moment that is hard and where faith and perseverance are needed. It would be good to give people an opportunity to say if there is any situation like this that they would like the group to pray about.
witness
Pray for any of your friends going through a difficult situation. Let them know during the week that you are praying for them in your small group.
