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This weekend Pastor Joaquin concluded our BELIEVE series with a message about how fear gets in the way of our faith. 

1) Faith knows all things are possible with God.

To be a person of faith you need a powerful person, and that powerful person is not YOU! We can't look to ourselves to achieve all that God has in store for us. Only with Jesus can we see the impossible become reality. 

2) Faith is not occasional obedience, it's ultimate surrender.
What separates a follower of Jesus and someone who just likes the idea of Jesus is that a follower of Jesus will submit to Jesus' desires instead of just taking his desires into consideration. 
3) Faith and fear cannot coexist. 

Fear distorts the way we see Jesus' work in our lives and will never allow us to see the GOOD that God is doing in our situation. Remember that perfect love casts out all fear. Trust that Jesus loves you. 

4) Faith empowers us to step out of the boat.

If Peter had never stepped out of the boat he would have never experienced the miracle of walking on water. We can't let our fear get in the way of our obedience. Instead, we must set it aside so we can experience all that God has in store for us. 

5) Little faith reminds us we need saving, while faith without doubt assures us we are safe. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Who are you praying for today? This weekend Pastor Steve Andres continued our BELIEVE series with a message about approaching God on behalf of others.

Genesis 18:23,25
Abraham approached the Lord and said, “Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked? Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” 

God invites Abraham into conversation about his plan to bring judgment to Sodom, and Abraham intercedes for the people of the city. What does this teach us?

1) Praying is believing.

We can’t trust and not pray, and we can’t pray without trusting. God knows we aren’t experts at prayer, but he gives us the Holy Spirit to help us when we pray!

2) Praying is hoping.

We can’t pray for others without becoming more hopeful about them. Prayer is important because the less time you spend with truth the easier it is to believe lies. 

3) Praying is loving.

Our prayerlessness is not for a lack of opportunity, it’s for a lack of love. We have access to God through Jesus, which means the only way to fail at prayer is to not pray!

4) Praying is priesting.

Prayer stands between someone else and God and says, I will take up their case! This is the example we have in Jesus, who is our advocate in heaven!

Hebrews 7:25
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

God invites us to pray and to intercede for others. Who are you praying for today?

Can you believe even when it is costly? This weekend Pastor Steve Andres continued our BELIEVE series with a message about Elijah’s faith.

1 Kings 18:37-38
Elijah prayed, "Answer me, Lord, so these people will know that you are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

Elijah was dealing with a people whose entire relationship with God existed in the past tense. They had not rejected God, they had added other gods to their worship. 

1) Elijah’s faith was a CATALYST.

A catalyst creates a reaction. Healthy people don't go out looking for conflict, but growth and change rarely happen without discomfort.

"Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me."
Jim Elliot

Our real conflict is not with people. People are the prize in the kingdom of God, so our goal is not to defeat people but to win them. Real faith will produce healthy confrontation.

2) Elijah’s faith created COMMITMENT.

Elijah asked, “How long will you waver between two opinions?” Elijah knew that belief was meaningless without obedience. 

3) Elijah’s faith was COSTLY.

After years without rain, Elijah’s pouring out of water on the sacrifice was an extravagant act of faith. Are you willing to operate in trust even when it costs you something precious?

When Elijah prayed, God answered with fire from heaven! It may seem like this dramatic story of faith in action is out of reach for us. But the Bible says the opposite.

James 5:17-18
Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.

You can have a faith that God uses to turn hearts towards Him again!

Where have you placed your hope? This weekend Pastor Steve Andres started our BELIEVE series with a message about the nature of faith.

Matthew 17:20
“Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there', and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Faith is not a denial of reality, it’s a deeper reality. What does this passage teach us about how to trust God in the face of very real challenges and disappointments?

1) Every seed starts out SMALL. 

Faith is not a form of religious achievement. What matters is not the amount of faith, but the object of our faith. Even a small seed of faith, WELL-PLACED, can make mountains jump.

2) Every seed starts out SLOW.

Faith requires trust in God’s unseen work. Real faith allows us to be faithful to our assignment today, trusting that God will bring finished fruit in His perfect time.

3) Every seed has a SO THAT.

A gardener plants seeds to grow a tree and to enjoy its fruit. But Jesus said there is a SO THAT that has nothing to do with the gardener's goals. 

Matthew 13:33
"Though the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

When we place our hope and trust in Jesus, God multiplies His blessings in our lives, SO THAT others can experience God’s goodness as well!