 Okay, welcome back everyone and I've just turned on the recording for the session as well So others can listen to it Okay, before we get into the next chapter chapter nine Are there any other questions? Anybody would like to ask? Okay, we're gonna go go now to chapter nine which is on Nurturing your faith, right? So we want to talk about Nurturing our faith. So our faith Like we've said in the previous class lecture We need to constantly nurture and develop So, you know Just as an example, okay, and the Bible there's no there's no Scripture on this but just an example illustration faith can be considered like a muscle Right, because faith works, right? So muscle you need muscle to do work. So spiritually Faith can be considered like a muscle so The muscle can be developed But for the muscle to develop you need to give it the right Food the body you need to give the body right food. You need to give it the right exercise I need to give it the right rest So all three are important In order for that muscle or for muscles in the body to develop So just just an example, right? So similarly Our faith needs to be developed. It needs to be nurtured. So in this lesson, it's a very short lesson I'm just going to share some just what the Bible teaches us about nurturing our faith of how we can grow or develop in our faith and remember This we're talking about is our personal faith, right? That God has given to all of us a measure of faith Romans 12 verse 3 when we all started is given it to us but now we need to nurture that faith and a Simple example is in what we see in how Paul is writing to the Thessalonians, right? Very interesting to observe this He, you know, he commends in both his episodes first Thessalonians and also in second Thessalonians He commenced these group of believers About their faith. It really commands them, right? But at the same time he wants to help them grow in their faith Right? That's part of what he desires for them. So we can just look at these two passages of scripture Could somebody please read for us? These scripture passages first Thessalonians chapter 1 verses 2 to 4 and also verse 8 and then first Thessalonians chapter 3 Verses 9 and 10 please We give thanks to God always for you all making mention of you in our prayers Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father knowing beloved brethren your election by God Verse 8 For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place Your faith toward God has gone out So that we do not need to say anything chapter 3 verse 9 and 10 for what Thanks can we render to God for you? For all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face And perfect what is lacking in your faith Thank you so You know so paul is commanding these believers. I mean he's really very happy for them So look we're praying for you And we are remembering your work of faith So these people these believers here in this city Thessalonica this region and He says look we really appreciate your work of faith. So they're putting their faith to work. They're doing something They're expressing love through their labor their hope through their patience And their faith through their work. So he's really commanding them and he says, you know People in other places in Macedonia and Achaia They're talking about these, you know, the these people's faith in God right, so In other places people are talking about these believers and that's like us. Hey, these these believers are Wonderful. They're wonderful people of faith. They have this great faith in God They are firm in their faith, etc, etc So that's in chapter one Now just a little later in chapter three paul says, you know what we are praying for you And we want to come see your face means we want to visit you and perfect what is lacking in your faith See that Perfect mature strengthen What's lacking of it? So while he's commanding them for their faith Their work of faith and the fact that many people are talking about their faith. It's wonderful There's still more work to be done Right. So he says, look, I still want to come to you I still want to meet you in person all of you in person. I want to come there personally I may see you and I made perfect or Mature What is lacking? Right. That means There's still more that can be done, you know to help them increase in their faith Help them strengthen in their faith right so for all of us for all of us We can constantly perfect What is lacking In our faith, right? None of us have arrived None of us are perfect. None of us, you know are These great people who can say well, uh, you know Uh, I've got perfect faith complete faith. No, uh, we are working our faith Uh, uh, our faith is producing but there it can get better It can get stronger. It can be nurtured. It can be perfected And so that is some that's something we need to be conscious about we need to be aware about and constantly work towards Nurturing our faith and perfecting our faith, right? So that's what uh, that's the focus here, right? In uh, and uh in the next episode 2nd Thessalonians 1 3 and 4 Uh, Paul writes again to the same Thessalonians Uh, somebody could read these yeah these two verses, please again 2nd Thessalonians 1 3 to 4 We are bound to thank god always for you brethren as it is fitting Because your faith grows exceedingly and the love of everyone of you all abounds toward each other So that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of god For your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure Hmm. Thank you. So so he's saying, you know, uh, once again, he's writing this, you know, to the same people Uh, the second episode he says, you know, we're thanking god because your faith grows Exceedingly that means like you know, uh, like we said earlier He said look you've got one you're working faith. You've got your faith toward god You want to perfect it you want to strengthen it? And now he's writing back. He's saying look your faith is growing You know, it's growing and uh, we are uh, we are appreciating your faith and patience And they were facing difficulties and hardships and so he's appreciating them The point I want to point, uh, you know, really Point point out is their faith grows That's how our faith can grow Right and we need to keep growing our faith so That's the focus of this chapter. It's a very simple chapter and uh, how we nurture our faith right some basic things There's nothing complicated. Actually, it's very very simple First of all, we must nurture our faith with the word of god Romans 10 17 is a scripture that we all know Says faith comes By hearing and hearing by the word of god or just an old english way of saying faith comes By hearing the word of god Right Uh, so how does faith come? We must hear the word of god. We must hear what god has spoken Right, so and and notice it is a present continuous Here ring, right? So faith comes by hearing Present continuous the word of god so How do we nurture our faith we Here or continually here continue to hear the word of god. Why because We trust god By trusting his word or We show our faith in god by having faith in his word what god has spoken God has promised this god has said this Therefore, I believe it. I have faith in it Right that word produces faith and my faith in it is my faith in god in god, so We constantly Engage with the word. I'd be Keep hearing the word so that our faith in god can be Strengthened. Let me see somebody has a question. Yes, john. You have a question, please Yeah, it was just I still don't understand where it says perfect. What is lacking your faith? I know first that's alone is nine ten is towards the end. It says perfect. What is lacking your faith? I don't understand that part Right, so So what Paul is showing us is You know our faith can grow right now, I think I think we can use an example so Did the word perfect Is There are of course different ways to look at it. One perfect is To complete to fill up to fill up. So, you know, if you think of a A glass That has a cup a cup that has water say three fourths of the way To perfect means to fill up the rest of the cup so you're adding some more So it's not full, you know three three quarters of the way So I perfect. What do I do? I fill up what's lacking, you know, fill it up top it up So that's one way to look at it Another way to look at understand the word perfect Is mature mature so The example would be that of a an 18 year old And let's say maybe a 25 year old Now an 18 year old, you know, typically by the time you're 18 you are considered a person is considered an adult as an adult 18 but There's a difference between an adult who's 18 and an adult who's say 25 because An adult who's 25 has You know, usually has a little bit more maturity. They've seen a little bit more of life. Maybe they've carried a little bit more responsibility And and and therefore Has a little bit more maturity to them. Now both are adults. Both are considered adults 18 or 25 they're legally adults But in terms of maturity, there is a difference simply because a 25 year old You know over the next seven years has carried a certain amount of responsibility Maybe they've started working a job and you know all of that and they're more mature So they would perfect and also be understood as in the sense of maturity, right? So Now In the exercise of our faith we Need the stopping up or we need this maturity to happen And that's what paul is referring to. He says I want to perfect what is lacking in your faith now We don't know exactly what in what ways This group these believers here in this one I cover lacking in their faith Whether it was they were being shaken because of the persecutions they were facing or was it because of Some of the disturbances that were happening because when you read the letter like first, there's a lot in second There are certain things paul talks about for instance. He talks about persecutions hardships He talks about the need for holiness He also talks about people who are Busy bodies were you know going around and causing This especially in chapter three of second thus long is they're causing a lot of disturbance in that community So in what way were these people Lacking in their faith exactly what paul is referring to. I don't know But you know, I'm just looking at the other things he mentions in both these letters Of the challenges the problems these people are facing and There's also another important thing he addresses is about the coming of christ that They should be ready, you know So i'm not sure in which specific area these people are being Were lacking in their faith, but he says look I need to come and help you in this way I need to really strengthen you in this way Uh But if those two examples like topping up or maturing helps Understand I hope hope it does is it okay shani or yes, it's okay. It's clear. Thank you. Okay. Thank you so So we need to constantly, you know keep growing in our faith in god And you know for different ones of us, right? There could be different things that are challenging our faith you know sometimes It could be just difficulties we are facing and hey, we need some help Sometimes it could be temptations. Everything is going great in life. You know, there's no problem, but there are temptations So hey, we need help in our faith to overcome temptation Sometimes You know Things might be going great but we need faith in god to Step out and accomplish something So, you know, there's no problem. You know, all your needs are met. Everything is fine, but A believer could be hesitating to step out and do something for god So okay. Hey, you need to perfect faith in that area so that you step out and do something so for all of us Right in as we're journeying through life We need help To nurture our faith for for various things, you know, I'm not saying it always has to do with difficulty sometimes It does though. We would be facing difficulty But sometimes, you know life can be perfect. Everything is fine. You know, you have no needs all your needs are met Life is going great. You've got your health is good But then there could be The need to nurture faith in certain other aspects like like I said overcoming temptation or stepping out and doing something for god or stepping out and ministering to people You know, learning how to move in the gifts of the spirit learning how to Do different things god has called us to do so, you know, although So this nurturing of our faith doesn't always have to do with problems over difficulties It could just be that we need to grow in other areas of our Walk with god our relationship with god, right? So All of us need this continual nurturing of our faith. How do we do it first? We said We can do it by just hearing the word right and so I want to encourage us to learn to meditate in the word of god and We'll be talking about this In another course as well when we talk about hermeneutics But let me just, you know, give us in a very brief concise way how to meditate in the word of god Okay Now when we say meditation We're not talking about some eastern mysticism. No, we're not talking about that We're talking about biblical meditation, you know, the word meditate in god's is used many times in the bible, especially in the old testament and How How did they practice meditation in god's word, right? Especially if you're talking about Biblical meditation You can capture when you when you study the hebra words haga and siac You know the word haga simply means to reflect imagine matter or speak And siac simply means to ponder as well as to converse with oneself to commune toata So when you look at these two hebra words used For meditation and you want to just distill what it's saying in three english words We use the words contemplation visualization and confession Okay, so how do I meditate in god's word three simple things contemplate contemplate means to think deeply on the word of god Your attention is focused on that promise You're thinking on it contemplate contemplation second visualization I use a english word visualization. I mean you could use another word like imagine or imagination or That means you're seeing god's word fulfilled with your mind with your mind's eye right Because god created our imagination. He gave it to us and our imagination is very important because The picture we paint with our mind's eye can inspire faith It can build confidence or it can destroy us and you find this example you find this in the bible too and You know, we will talk about it in like I said in another course But this imagination is It's important So you need to see with your mind's eye the word of god being fulfilled in your life God gave you imagination. He gave us the faculty Or the ability to imagine which is to see with our mind's eye and thirdly is confession That means I must speak the word Declare the word that means put it in my mouth right because Haga and siac you'll see it means to mutter. It means to repeat words. It means to say aloud. It means to utter So, you know the way the Hebrew Hebrews or the Jews practiced it was they would you know sit in a corner They would put a shawl around them They would rock back and forth Full focus on the word and they will say the word of god, you know, so example Psalm 23 So imagine meditating on Psalm 23. I'm not saying we had to do it like this I'm just saying that's generally how it was practiced, right? They would They would block out all distractions And just made it contemplate visualize confess the lord Is my shepherd? I shall not want He makes me to lie down in green pastures He leads me beside the still waters He restores my soul he Or I must forget the rest of it He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake Yay Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, right? So What are they doing? They're meditating God's word They're contemplating that means your attention is focused on the word In your mind you're seeing that word The Lord is my shepherd. You see yourself as a sheep and you see how the shepherd leads the sheep and you're going by the green pastures You're going by the still waters. You're seeing, you know, you can't you visual as you're seeing that word And then you're also saying it with your mouth. Why now your ears are hearing what your mouth is speaking and faith comes by hearing right, so You can you know open the scriptures Take a verse, you know take Jeremiah 29 11 And say okay, so I have my Bible open I'm looking at this verse I say God has said I know the thoughts I think toward you says the Lord Thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope God has told me He knows thoughts that he's thinking towards me These are thoughts of peace of blessing Of well-being not of evil To give me a future and a hope Nice I declare that my God knows the thoughts he has for me thoughts of peace and well-being To give me a future and a hope This is my God So What I've done is just now I've meditated in Jeremiah 29 verse 11 just few minutes What was I doing? I was contemplating I was visualizing I was saying I was muttering I was saying just to myself What's this going to do? It's going to feed my spirit with the word of God Meditation in God's word And it's going to build my faith In God's word and I'm meditating. I'm thinking on it. It's focused God, this is what you said faith comes by hearing the word of God Okay similarly As I'm meditating as we are meditating the word what's happening is We are sowing the seed of God's word in our hearts Now Jesus taught us this in the parable of the soul. He said that the seed the word is like seed It has to be so Right. So through meditation you're putting the seed of the word into your heart and from there it's going to germinate it's going to produce Right. So hearing speaking meditating and practicing the word It's a key To nurturing our faith It's key Right. So I hear the word through meditating I speak the word to myself And we do this consistently do it over and over again and nurtures and strengthens our faith and sometimes you know, there may be Areas in our life where you want to you know, you want to go after something really specific You spend that extra time meditating in those scriptures for that Area of your life and build yourself up in that area Okay, so first first way to nurture your faith Is by hearing the word by through meditating and just putting the word in your heart I want to pause you and see that any questions. Did you Did you all understand? Okay, so clear All right, everybody's really quiet. So I'm assuming It's okay Then just just two more The next thing is be nurture our faith But I'm being part of a community of faith, right? So this is again uh a simple and important part of Being a person of faith, right? So philemon There's only one chapter in the sixth verse philemon paul writes And he says, you know, he tells the he's writing to Philemon, he says that the sharing of your faith or the fellowship of your faith It may become effective But the acknowledgement of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus so He's talking about the fellowship of your faith Yeah, so that means my faith is not held in isolation, but there is a fellowship That means I'm having faith. There are other people around me who also have faith in God Who also have who just believe who also believe in God and believe his word As you know, we are having fellowship. We are we are sharing our faith right And How can that fellowship be effective? We must acknowledge the good things that are in us in Christ so Be a part of a community that that acknowledges the good things that are in us in Christ To acknowledge the good things right So be a part of that community And that as as you're part of those that community of believers Who are acknowledging the good things that are in us in Christ? What happens it encourages our faith because you see how another brother or another sister How that person is, uh, you know joining with faith in God and they encourage you their life Encourages you or maybe their testimony encourages you or how God does works that encourages you and it strengthens our faith Right, so being part of a community be a part of people Who acknowledge good the good things that are in us in Christ Then the fellowship of our faith becomes effective. It really strengthens our faith It's a simple thing, but yet it's a very important thing to nurture our faith and last one is Not to your faith with testimonies of faith, right? So listen to, you know, listen to people as they share their testimony Say this is how God encouraged God worked in my life and I believe God and God came through And you know, God did this and so by Testimonies of faith Our faith is also nurtured and encouraged Now, uh, Hebrew chapter 11 for example is a chapter that's full of testimonies full of you know people who walked in faith and What they were able to accomplish by faith. So we nurture our faith with the testimonies, you know of people Around us who are able to do things through faith in God and we talk about his wondrous works and we You know, we declare his mighty acts and so those By listening to that by listening to people talking about his wondrous works and Declaring his mighty acts our faith is also strengthened okay So three simple things You nurture your faith with the word of God feed your spirit with the word Be a part of a community of believers who Call out the good things that are in you in Christ Jesus Not people who are feeding you with unbelief and doubt but people who You know acknowledge the good things that are in you in Christ They're listened to testimonies of faith. So this is just a simple way to nurture our faith in God Okay All right, did we have a question? Please go ahead Yes pastor. Thank you. Uh, so my question is uh regarding being part of a community of faith uh, so if A believer is part of a community that agrees on the basic Doctrine, you know the basic gospel But They do differ in certain doctrines How should a believer Deal with that right, so You know the basic gospel everything is clear and there is no Nothing That is concerning, but if it is like regarding holy spirit and you know the extension You know that we have in the gospel. So In such cases, what what would you suggest? Be a good way Hmm Yeah, there is no, you know one straight answer in the sense Ultimately, you know each one has to Follow what God wants to do, but I'll just give my general guidance in this matter see One it is possible that you know, I could go To Church community a local church a local community believers who You know who we agree with in the basic things like we all believe in Jesus We all believe in that God of the bible the triune god we believe the scriptures are you know Inspired but They may not believe in say, you know the works of the spirit and the supernatural manifestations of the spirit and so on I mean, it's okay for you know, believer to go there as long as on his own He's able to grow and develop in those things Yeah He can manage so that kind of If a life can be managed I'm not saying it's not possible It can be managed but This believer needs expression. He needs, you know to To be able to learn more about the things of God the spirit of God and to be able to Minister and serve You know and that can happen now that should happen In the context of that local community believers or they can go and be a part of another fellowship So, you know, maybe they can compensate that way there all the in that local church They may not have room for expression. Maybe They can be being part of another bible study or another group They're the growing and so so they kind of compensate and I know, you know, sometimes some people do that It's not the ideal situation It can't be managed It's okay the ideal would be to be a part of a church where You know, like we read in philemon 1 6 You're able to flow together. You're able to grow together in all aspects of The christian faith, you know the growing the things of the spirit and that would be ideal But if that is not possible, you know for various reasons it's that's not possible Then this this is a second option where it can be managed So that in the local church, there is community and there is fellowship to the extent that people believe but For the believer at a personal level Is able to grow By engaging in other, you know other places of fellowship or risk input grow and continue to grow in the faith So that can be managed But ideal is always good if if it is possible, but in some situations it may not be possible Practically, so it's okay Okay, thank you Any other questions? Okay, so We're going to just start off on our next lesson so Chapter nine was very small simple or nurturing of faith by the word By fellowship with believers and third by listening to testimonies now we go to chapter 10 there You want to talk about how do you What is the basis for strong faith? right when you and I Want to be able to exercise faith in god We need to have a strong foundation. What is the basis for strong faith? How can you be a person? How you how can you and I Be people of strong faith. What is it that undergirds strong faith? Okay, that's what we want to talk about in chapter 10 Right, and so we're kind of getting it is all the practical things here about faith in god and how to exercise faith We will talk about it right So what is the basis for strong faith? chapter 10 Right, so the basis for strong faith Right, so in this chapter We'll mention five important foundational truths That you and I must have for strong faith Secondly, and then We're also going to talk about practices to develop strong faith. Okay, so What other foundational truths we We must be strong in to have strong faith first of all We must be established in the integrity of god's word Right If if we are not Confident that this word is truth That this word will not fail Then we cannot have strong faith so First thing to ask strong faith is hey God has spoken God said it It's going to be done Nothing can stop The word of god from being fulfilled. So we must be established in the integrity Of the word of god and the power of the word of god. It must be settled in our lives no questions Because if I doubt the word then I can't have faith in god If I question The promise of god, I can't have faith in god. I have to be established In the integrity Of god's word. So let me let me sorry Share my screen. I didn't I didn't share my screen Right, so we're going to talk about five important foundational truths and four practices, right? So the first one I must be established in the integrity of god's word Right Jesus said john 17 17 Your word is truth I must be able to say god Your word is truth. I believe it god. You said it. That's enough for me That's enough for me god. You said it So we must have this confidence, you know Things will around us will change the grass where there's a flower fades time and seasons will change But the word of god will stand Things will change but god's word will endure So we must be established number one We must be established In the integrity Of god's word, okay, we have to have this holy reverence We have to have this Absolute confidence In the holy word of god This is god's word Strong faith Is based On this truth The word of god Yes, every promise All the promises of god are yes and amen. I'm not questioning it. I'm not doubting it If it's there in the bible, it's for me If god has spoken it, it's for me. It's truth We must be established In the integrity of god's word second We must be established In christ's finished work on the cross So the cross of jesus christ Is the basis For everything we're going to receive From god Everything we're going to receive from god is because Of the cross what jesus did for us on the cross So we must be established In that Okay on the cross My sins are forgiven That power of sin is broken Jesus provided wholeness for my spirit's soul and body So I can receive healing and wholeness for my spirit's soul and body The curse has been removed blessing has been released through the cross Satan all his demonic forces have been disarmed and destroyed. I am redeemed and I'm part of god's family Right So the cross is so important because it's on the basis of the cross That we are going to receive from god So I must be very clear And I must be established In the finished work. This is done. Jesus finished the work for me on the cross Right and all these aspects that we've just kind of outlined here. We must be formally established In that The third Truth we must be established is our identity in christ That's what we are learning in the other course We have to be established in this because We have to live out of the identity in christ that Because god has given me this inheritance Because god has given me this identity I can therefore face life these situations face satan and his demons Based on that So when a believer is established in their identity, they have confidence They don't doubt, you know, they don't They can go for god boldly and ask Knowing that that's their privilege. It's their blessing It's part of their inheritance And so this is also very important You know, if you are establishing your identity in christ, you can operate out of that as you exercise faith in god in number four Must be established in the presence and power of the holy spirit That means The holy spirit does that work with me So when I'm believing god When I'm believing god for healing or believing god for deliverance or believing god for a minister or somebody I know I'm not alone You know, you're not alone The holy spirit is working through you The holy spirit is working in you And so you're established to say I know the holy spirit is going to help me I know the holy spirit is going to bring me through this and the holy spirit is going to cause the miracle to take place So you're established in that the presence by the holy spirit because that undercourts us We can have strong faith when we know what the holy spirit does in us and through us Okay and lastly number five The authority of jesus name that When we minister when we pray We're doing it in the name of jesus. What does that mean for us? You know that as we minister Look, i'm not doing it in my name I'm not doing it with the name of a church or a denomination or something like that. No, it's the name of jesus So when we are established in the authority of the name of jesus, we can have strong faith as you minister out of that name so In order to have strong faith In order to be you know, uh to be people of strong faith. Let's just review this These truths undergird strong faith. They are foundational to having strong faith in god The reviewing number one Be established in the integrity of god's word number two Be established in the finished work on the cross What jesus did for me. It's god's provision for my life I will have it No devil and no man can stop it must have that confidence number three Know your identity in christ. This is who god has made me to be This is what he has given to me I'm going to walk in it Number four the holy spirit is with me. He's my helper He's going to help me and he's going to work through me number five I've been given the authority of jesus name and so In that name As I pray or as I minister or as I ask I know It has to be done. So I'm going to pause here for today and so you see How strong faith Is undecarded By these things. So, you know when we are established in all these truths And if you look at how you know the courses are set up for us in the bible college It's really it's kind of building you up in all these areas It's building you up in the holy spirit is building you up in the word of god It's building you up in the you know in all these areas. It's kind of building you up really To give you a strong foundation So that you and I can have strong faith strong faith okay Any questions so far before we close and dismiss we'll continue this next week any questions okay Let's close in prayer Okay, did we have a question? Please go ahead Thank you. Thank you. So my question is so all these five points that were mentioned these are all You know based on God's word The name of Jesus all that God has done So I was just wondering like Is is there anything that is dependent on me as a believer Or me as a person is there anything about faith that is dependent on me Um, I would say the next part where we're going to talk about the practices So those practices are things that we do right So If we practice those things It'll help us Have strong faith So while God has done his part and he's given us, you know these all these truths for us to just cast ourselves on say God I'm just completely dependent on these truths God has provided that for us But then on the other side he says live like this, you know, you practice this So I would say those five the five practice we're going to talk about Is our our side? of this whole Having strong faith our side to having strong faith. Yeah Sure. Thank you. Buster. Yeah Good. Thank you. Everybody. Let's just close in prayer Um, can I ask somebody to please pray with us? And dismiss us anybody? You're welcome to unmute your mic And just pray with us as a class and we will dismiss please anyone Um, brother Manor would you like to Well father, thank you lord for teaching The precious truth about the faith lord how we can grow in faith nurture our faith Lord So precious are these things Help me be a wonderful father to receive it in the good heart and to Develop me for this truth may be deeply rooted in us So that it may bear much food Thank you lord for that in this privilege Thank you lord helping us through For the seed of this truth growing in our life We praise your name and thank you glory for and I address grace to every one of us for to grow perfectly in all these elements of faith nurturing Bless the pastor Bless every one of us We commit every one of us in your hand Thank you lord for making us your true children and your living witnesses in this body That may shine for you in this body In Jesus name we pray Amen. Amen. Thank you everyone We will dismiss have a good rest of the day Enjoy your day. God bless you. We'll see you again