August 11, 2013 - 12th Sunday after Pentecost

Breaking Open the Scriptures Scriptures for August 11th: Isaiah 1:1, 10-20; Psalm 50:1-8,22-23; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:32-40; Theme: The meaning of Faith; Song: Immortal, Invisible, God only wise UMH 103 Hebrews: We will looking at Hebrews for the next few weeks. This book spells out what the term faith really means. Faith in something that you can see, is not faith. Faith only happens in the midst of the wilderness. Hebrews is unique because it is the only book that takes us back to the Old testament as the foundation of our Christian faith. We are reminded of the faith of Abraham, we are reminded that we are brothers and sisters with those who follow faith. Abraham is the father of our faith. God called Abraham to step away from his comfortable life. And he was able to follow God to the fruition of that faith. He was told he would have a child, and that child would be the ancestor of many people. That happened. When we are able to follow God- we are spiritual children of Abraham and we carry the light of his faith into the world today. The wilderness may be gone, but God still calls us into the unknown so that more people will know God and will have faith in the God invisible, immortal, but all powerful. Luke: Jesus seems to be addressing small churches life ours – telling us not to be afraid, but to have faith. Faith is only true faith when it is actively lived out. Jesus tells us to actively live out our faith by doing the things we are supposed to do. The source of our faith is not visible, and it is unknown. We don’t know what the immediate future holds. We don’t know how we will make ends meet. We don’t know what God holds in store for us. But we know the promises of Christ. Once again Christ is reminding us, that if we understood everything that God was doing in the world, there would be no need for faithful churches. We are called to do the work of trusting in God and God’s plan. We do know the far off future, that Jesus will return and redeem all of our efforts. Questions: What does faith mean to you? Who are your models of faith? How can we follow Abraham in his faith? What would you do if God asked you to turn from all that you understand and to do something new in the name of faith? What stands in the way of us being a faithful congregation? How can we have enough peace to trust God in all things? What do you need to do in order to be ready for Christ to return?