Grow Up in Faith (#3 in a series)

Originally preached in late January, 2009

Ephesians 4:15 "But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the Head--Christ."


Why should we look at growing in faith?

Romans 5:1, Faith is the foundation of a right relationship with God.
1 Thessalonians 5:24, Because the One who calls us is Faithful.

One of the interesting new career choices today is that of "Life Coach." A life coach supposedly has it all together, can evaluate you, your goals, and where you should be in your life, and then give you the advice you need to develop fully and meet your career or other goals.

Whether or not we need 'life coaches', everyone needs others who will encourage their faith. Look at two examples from the Bible...Jonathan (in 1 Samuel 23:16) encouraged the faith of his friend David, even though it put him in personal danger, endangered his family relationships with his father and brothers, and even though he knew David was destined to fulfill the political place that others expected that Jonathan himself would hold. Isaiah (See Isaiah 7:9) sought to encourage the wavering King of Judah, Ahaz to a stronger faith in God. Ahaz foolishly rejected God's encouragement through the prophet, but this led to Isaiah's greatest prophecy--the prediction of the birth of Christ in 7:14.

Some Scriptures dealing with faith--
Habakkuk 2:1-4 encourages our faith when we do not yet see God's promises fulfilled.
Romans 1:17 shows that God's righteousness is revealed in the gospel through faith.
The entire chapter of 1 Thessalonians 5 is rich with encouragement to faith in God.
Christ Himself spoke of faith in Matthew 8:5-13 & 23-27, and in Luke 17:1-6.
1 Timothy 6:11 and 2 Timothy 1:13 are encouraging to the Christian who is pursuing growth in faith.

I'll close this post with "Planting 'P's'--Practical ways to grow your faith":
–Prayer (Mark 11:20-24)
–Precepts (2 Corinthians 5:7)
–Patterns (Hebrews 11)
–Practice (Mark 11:22)
–Persistence (James 1:3)
–Perseverance (1 Peter 1:6, James 1:2-4)
–Partners (Romans 1:12)