Now, faith is one of the most common words that we encounter as we grow in our daily walk with God. But sometimes, people talk about faith too much that they are not able to grasp the real idea about what it truly means. Based on experience, we can already hear this specific word when we were still kids; and up until now, everybody loves to talk about it. Yet only a few take the time to define what faith really is.
With this, aside from giving you ideas for your sermons on faith, we will be defining what faith really is and how you can use it in your daily Christian walk.
Sermons on Faith: The Bible’s Definition
In this article, let us explore deeper how God defined faith in the bible. First and foremost, let us remember the passage in Ephesians 2,
“For by grace are you saved through faith; that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.”
This is a reminder that no man is ever redeemed by works, no matter how good you are. We are saved by grace and through our Faith. And now, we are able to experience the gift of salvation all because of God’s grace and our faith. Thus Faith is an essential element that all Christians must have in our path to spiritual maturity and growth.
In our next verse, we will be using different translations to further understand how the Bible defined faith.
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1 (NIV, ESV, NAS)
The words “confidence” and “assurance” are references to the things that are going on inside our minds. With this translation, we can see that faith is an internal state of mind that people get into about something that they are not sure of and hoped for. Now, let us look at the other translations.
Faith is the substance/reality of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1 (KJV, CEV)
With only this, we can see that there is a big difference between the two translations we have read. According to this translation, faith is not just a mental state but an experience that we have that gives us a taste of the reality of the substance of the things that we hoped for. In other words, faith begins with a mental activity but is also an experience that we have because of the choices we are making. Then as we live and act in faith, we begin to have a taste of the reality of the things we hoped for.
Some would think that faith is merely entertaining an impossible idea turned into a possible scenario. But with the 2nd translation, faith is both thinking and response to a reason that something is changing or something will change. And if we do so, it will put us in the substance of the reality of the things that we are hoping for.
With the definition from the book of Hebrews, faith is not just a mere mental agreement but it also drives action. With this, faith will help drive our decisions, values, and actions to align with our beliefs.
Furthermore, faith helps us to see the bigger picture in every situation or circumstance we are in. That there is more to life than what we see with our eyes. With faith, our trust in our Lord Jesus Christ is strengthened that no matter how chaotic and uncontrolled the world is, God’s strength and power will guide us to see His greater plan.
The Importance of Action in Faith
In the book of Hebrews chapter 11, we can see the great men and women in the Bible who expressed great faith as they faced certain circumstances. But these men and women did not just put their trust in God without doing their part, these people expressed their great faith with actions. Let us look at some of these examples.
- Noah’s faith in action in building the Ark (Hebrews 11:7)
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith, he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
During this time, Noah and his family were mocked, shouted at, condemned, and even considered crazy people when they chose to follow God’s command to build an ark. Even moments before the great typhoon, no one still believed and followed them. But with great faith coupled with action, Noah built an Ark in obedience to God’s command to save his family. With this, only Noah and his family were saved while all those who did not believe them drowned and died.
- Abraham’s most precious sacrifice (Hebrews 11:17-19)
17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”[c] 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
While walking to Mount Moriah, Abraham told his servants that “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship, and then we will come back to you.” (Genesis 22:5) Despite knowing that God commanded him to sacrifice his son Isaac, Abraham believed and declared that he and his son will come back to their servants.
With great faith, Abraham went and tried to sacrifice his one and only son in obedience to God’s command. But before he succeeded, God intervened and provided a lamb for him to sacrifice in exchange for his son. This intervention is due to Abraham’s reasoning and faith that God is faithful to all of His promises to him and could even raise the dead. With this, Abraham received back Isaac and became the father of all nations.
- Rahab and her family’s salvation (Hebrews 11:31)
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
When Joshua and his men were about to attack Jericho, they sent out spies to scout the land in preparation for their attack. But these spies were discovered by the king of Jericho and went searching for them in Rahab’s house. With the knowledge that God has given the land to the Israelites, Rahab hid the spies and misled the pursuers. Rahab knew that the God of Israel is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
So, with great faith, she hid the spies for the sake of her entire family. Rahab’s faith and action caused a deal with the spies to spare her life and her family’s life. Thus, when the Israelites attacked, Rahab’s entire family was saved.
With all of these, we can see that faith coupled with actions will cause the miraculous power of God to manifest in our lives. These people did not just believe in the power of God, but they themselves did their part as they expressed faith in God.
So, for us living in current times, it is not enough to simply believe that God will arrange everything for us. We must act in faith in everything that we do. With this, God’s miraculous power will surely manifest in our lives and the community we are in.
Top Bible-based Sermons on Faith
Now that we fully understood how the Bible defined what faith is and how it works, let us now go through the top Bible-based sermons on faith.
1. Triumphing over Fear through Faith. (Matthew 8:25–27, Psalm 23:4)
25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” 26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. 27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” – Matthew 8:25–27
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
– Psalm 23:4
In our Christian journey, we cannot avoid seeing ourselves in a situation of fear. Depending on what we have been through, our traumatic experiences vary from one to the other. But no matter what our fears are, God has provided us the means to triumph over them through Faith.
The text in Matthew chapter 8, shows the disciples’ fear of the storm, and amidst their fear, God was able to demonstrate to us His power over our fears. He reminds us that our fear comes from our lack of faith. So, if we continue to grow our faith, we can overcome and triumph over our fears. Just like how David was able to declare it in Psalm 23. This text shows us the confidence of one who is full faith and trust to the Lord God almighty.
2. Growing in Faith. (Colossians 2:7)
7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
The Bible also stresses the need for us to continue to nurture our faith. How do we do that? As the text says, we must be rooted and built up in Him. This text reminds us that one of the ways to grow in faith is to know Him more and more. And we can do that by reading the word of God.
The logic here is basic. If you’ve never known that God is our Jehovah Jireh, you would never trust Him to provide all your needs. You would never entrust Him with your finances and your career. The same goes for all of God’s attributes. If you’ve never read about it, you would not have the chance to experience and affirm its truth.
The text also says the words, “as you were taught…” This means that we can also nurture our faith by listening to our earthly leaders whom God has appointed for us. Following their guidance, listening to our pastor’s sermons and preachings are also means of increasing our faith.
3. Unwavering Faith. (James 1:6, Matthew 21:21)
6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. – James 1:6
21 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. – Matthew 21:21
In our Christian journey, a person might have come to the point of doubt and unbelief leading to their falling away. You might have also met people who have lost their faith and are trying to get back on track. Knowing this, we can say that preaching to the believers about unwavering faith is necessary for our present generation.
The texts above tell us that in order to have unwavering faith, we must release all doubt in our minds. Releasing doubt and replacing it with unwavering faith is so powerful that as the text says, we can move mountains. We can speak to our current situation and declare God’s promises and it shall be so.
4. Pleasing God through Faith. (Hebrews 11:6)
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Sometimes, people are led to believe that pleasing God is through doing good works. But actually, good works without faith cannot please God. People confuse God’s way with how the world operates. The world’s status quo imposes on us that if we do not work for something, we would never get anything in return. This is the reason why it is difficult for people to believe that we are actually “saved through faith”.
We must remind ourselves that our God is actually not that difficult to please. As the text says if we believe that he exists he is pleased. If we earnestly seek him, he rewards us. How pleased would God be if we lead others to believe that he exists? Our faith in Him and sharing that faith with others is definitely something God would be happy about.
With these sermons on faith ideas, we pray that your faith grows as you continue to do God’s work in your daily lives and in your ministries.