Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[b] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[b] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Faith is…
believing 12 impossible things before breakfast.
Faith is…
stepping out the boat and walking on water.
Faith is…
watching bees, who do not know they cannot fly, fly.
Faith is…
looking at an atom and hoping that is not all there is.
Faith is…
playing in a child’s latest fairy adventure.
Faith is…
being here when the world is not.
Faith is the waiting, the possibility, the maybe and the perhaps
It is the being in God and wondering what God is up to
It is not the certainty but the expectancy of God
Faith is…
believing 12 impossible things before breakfast.
Faith is…
stepping out the boat and walking on water.
Faith is…
watching bees, who do not know they cannot fly, fly.
Faith is…
looking at an atom and hoping that is not all there is.
Faith is…
playing in a child’s latest fairy adventure.
Faith is…
being here when the world is not.
Faith is the waiting, the possibility, the maybe and the perhaps
It is the being in God and wondering what God is up to
It is not the certainty but the expectancy of God
Faith is…
Reflective Prayer...
May we give our hearts to faith, O God
our minds, yes,
our intellect, yes,
our thought, yes,
but also our hearts
all that is deep down in ourselves
and beats with life
may we give our hearts to faith.
And may we have eyes to see that faith alive in the world
renew us and reshape us
that we can name that with love
call us and provoke us
that we can name that faith justice
transform us and mould us
that we can name that faith peace
And our lives become real
like heaven is real to those without homes
and like resurrection is real to those without freedom
and like bread and wine are real to those who live in hunger
may we give our hearts to faith
all that is in us that beats with life
to your call in us
to transform and renew this world
beyond this place
Faith that speaks into silence with words of hope
that sings the song that has been taken from others
that touches what the world has left untouched for too long
that protests when the world prefers the boat not to rock
that irritates with truth the propaganda of power
that commits to the long term what others have passed over
May we give our hearts to faith
In Jesus name
So be it
Amen
May we give our hearts to faith, O God
our minds, yes,
our intellect, yes,
our thought, yes,
but also our hearts
all that is deep down in ourselves
and beats with life
may we give our hearts to faith.
And may we have eyes to see that faith alive in the world
renew us and reshape us
that we can name that with love
call us and provoke us
that we can name that faith justice
transform us and mould us
that we can name that faith peace
And our lives become real
like heaven is real to those without homes
and like resurrection is real to those without freedom
and like bread and wine are real to those who live in hunger
may we give our hearts to faith
all that is in us that beats with life
to your call in us
to transform and renew this world
beyond this place
Faith that speaks into silence with words of hope
that sings the song that has been taken from others
that touches what the world has left untouched for too long
that protests when the world prefers the boat not to rock
that irritates with truth the propaganda of power
that commits to the long term what others have passed over
May we give our hearts to faith
In Jesus name
So be it
Amen