I hope you are having a good start to your weekend. I want to invite you to join me on a challenge this weekend I’m calling, the “SHOW ME FAITH” Challenge. It is obvious we live in a broken world, full of broken people. Here in America, our hearts are heavy from the recent tragedy in Las Vegas. May we all continue to pray for and encourage the victims and their families, the first respondents, and all those affected. Our nation is reeling from the division in our nation, the rising violence and hatred in our culture and the fear that is invading people’s lives. We also see the turmoil and despair occurring in other nations around the globe.
In times like these, we who have faith in Christ know that our first response is to pray – seek our heavenly Father to pierce through these times of darkness with His light of healing, hope and love. Prayer should always be our first response. Then, our faith must also lead us to action. Prayer needs to be accompanied with Spirit-Empowered action.
The Book of James in the Bible says, “ 4 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.(James 2: 14-18, NIV).
Now, it is important that we first understand what James is NOT saying, so we can fully understand what he IS saying. James is not implying that our salvation is from our works, or efforts. No one receives forgiveness of their sins and eternal life by earning it. If there is any way for a sinner to be cleansed from their sin by anyway other than simple faith in Jesus Christ and what He did for us when He took our sin to the cross and arose from the grave, then the cross of Jesus was a cruel joke the Father played upon His Son. We know that is simply not the case. There is no other way to the Father, except through the Son (John 14:6). We are saved by grace through faith alone.
So, what is James saying? He is telling us that real faith is going to show up in our deeds. Our actions will testify of the genuineness of our faith. Jesus said, By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35, NIV).
The world is convinced our faith is real when it is accompanied by action compelled by love. Actions reveal that our faith is real!
With that in mind, I want to invite you to join me in a “SHOW ME FAITH” Challenge this weekend.
What is the “SHOW ME FAITH” Challenge? It is simply a call for us as Christ-followers to intentionally look for ways to put our faith in Jesus Christ into action. Then, go to our CPC Facebook page, Twitter or Instragram and post your testimony. Be sure to #yourcpc. The post is not for your glory, but encourage others to see that Christ-followers are out in public touching lives with the light of Christ.
Faith in Christ + Spirit-Enabled Action =Life-Changing Impact.
Let me give you some suggestions to consider.
- Call, email, send a handwritten note or text a friend or someone you know who could use a word of encouragement.
- Stop by a hospital or a Long Term Nursing Facility and spend 15 minutes visiting with someone, give them a word of encouragement and then pray over them. You will be as blessed as they will.
- Buy a meal for someone homeless or struggling financially.
- If you are at a restaurant this weekend, pay for a complete stranger’s meal.
- Walk across the street and invite your neighbor to go to church with you this weekend.
- For some of you – your action step may be to simply decide to start going to church. Don’t keep your faith private.
- Post only uplifting Scriptures or words of praise on your social media for the entire weekend.
- Volunteer at a local charity this weekend.
- Start mentoring a teenager. Share with them your experiences, be an ear to their story. Have some fun.
- Sit and visit with an elder or veteran and let them tell you their story. It will bless you, I promise!
- Get involved in Adoption ministries or become a Foster Care family.
- Simply be a friend to someone.
- Pray and Act on your Faith
These are just some ideas. The key is to be open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and put your faith into action.
At Connection Point Church this Weekend:
- Jr. High and High School students will be showing off their faith all over the Southeast MO area through Bible studies, worship events and activities through our annual EQUIP Conference.
- Saturday, another CPC Tide mission team will be leaving for South Florida to help with construction needs of those recovering from Hurricane Irma.
- Sunday, followers of Jesus will make their faith public by Water Baptism!
I hope you can join us at Connection Point Church this weekend. It is going to be an exciting weekend! We have three opportunities for you to worship Jesus with our faith family this Sunday, 8:15, 9:45 and 11:15. If you can’t be at our main campus, you can join us live on our website http://www.yourconnectionpoint.com, our CPC Jackson app or facebook live.
Show Me Your Faith!
Pursuing Truth with Chris Vaught 