What is Faith?

Hebrews tells us “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

Ephesians tells us “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

Faith is not pulling yourslelf or others up by their bootstraps. Faith is not looking to what we are doing.

Faith is “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith”

This Advent I hope you will join Gretchen Baker and I as we look at Hebrews 11. Faith is so simple yet so complex. We are going to look at ‘the great cloud of witnesses’ from Hebrews 11 and see what role faith played in their life. We are going to see Jesus show up for them and be empowered knowing he shows up for us too.

We will look at

Abel who was murdered

Enoch who strolled into the presence of God

Noah who saw utter destruction

Abraham who almost sacrificed his son

Sarah who laughed at God’s plan

Isaac who was almost sacrificed

Jacob who wrestled with God and won

Joseph who was thrown in a pit

Moses who wandered

The Israelite people who worshiped a golden calf

Rahab who was a prostitute and an outsider

and David who was declared a man after God’s own heart.

Where has God been at work in your life lately? Sometimes we can’t identity it and that’s okay. Know that even when we can’t see it God is at work for us.

I hope you will join Gretchen Baker and I during this advent season to be reminded that God is always at work for us.