I’d Like to Speak to a Manager: Faith
James 2:14-18
11.6.2022

Matters of Importance: Let’s talk about a few important items before the message.
- Loyalty Sunday is NEXT weekend!
- Pastor Zach’s call to Zion, Walburg – Decision on Monday.
- Drive-thru-Nativity replaced this year with a congregational event.

This picture was taken on the Mount of Olives.

Series Intro: God owns everything and provides all we have ... to manage and enjoy.
Let’s talk about what God says to us about managing our faith. Whether you’ve been around church or not, you’ve heard a LOT about faith. For all the talk about faith, we can get confused as to what faith is. I want to share three things that will help us understand faith. It’s hard to manage something well when we don’t understand it.

1 - God GIVES faith as a gift.

This is the foundation. People think faith is …
- Something you decide to have or not to have
- Something you stumble into blindly
- Something you work hard to possess
Please understand the most basic truth about faith: Faith is a gift that God gives!

EVERYTHING we have is a gift from God, including faith. To manage the gift of faith, we must understand that God gives us faith.

Here’s why it’s so important: Paul says, “by grace you have been SAVED through faith.” SAVED! Eternal life depends on faith! Do you realize, if it wasn’t completely a gift, if it was something you and I could generate or make or earn, how would we know that we have enough?

GOOD NEWS! If faith (saves us) is a gift from God, we can be sure He’s given enough!

Imagine if I didn’t have to worry about having enough! You will NOT run out of faith because it’s God who gives you faith!

2 - Faith produces action.

Faith does MUCH more than give us salvation! Faith produces visible results! It works in us to change the way we think and act?

We are back from Jerusalem. May I show you some pics? Some Jesus spots?
Question: Did seeing these places/standing where Jesus stood give them faith? NO! Because they HAVE faith in Jesus, they were delighted/honored to stand where Jesus did. Their faith produced actions/desires. Faith ALWAYS produces action!

One of the actions that faith produces is generosity toward others.
There are LOTS of ways to be generous and share what we have with others, but James gives us a very practical way.

Faith always to expresses itself in action ... specifically, action that blesses others. If someone needs clothes, clothe them. If someone is hungry, feed them. A GREAT way to manage our faith is through action/results that are generous to and bless other people. This is something Concordia is devoted to!

- Sleep in Heavenly Peace
- Communities Under the Bridge
- Stephen Ministry and those who call on members
- LWM quilts and kits

This brings us back to James’ question: is a faith with no actions/deeds any good?

James says, “If your faith doesn’t produce actions, there’s something wrong! Your faith is flatlining. Because faith produces action.” Something is wrong! Because living bodies naturally do certain things.

What do we do when our faith looks dead? People think, when faith looks dead, if it’s flatlining, the way to bring it back to life is to try harder or do more. But think about it. If a person is flatlining physically, what do you do? Do you tell them to get up and do something? No! You do CPR! You breathe life into them.

What is true of our bodies is true of our faith. If our faith is dead and there are no signs of life, we need to go back the ONLY ONE who can give the gift of faith.

God gives faith. We do works of faith.

When we understand that God gives faith as a gift, we can manage our faith well.

3 - God GROWS our faith!

A beautiful thing about trusting God/acting on our faith is that the more we trust, the stronger our faith grows.

Going back to the Giver of Faith isn’t just for those times when faith appears dead. Because when we go back to God when our faith is active, our faith grows! So, when we serve others, our faith grows! When we are generous with others, our faith grows. Remember, faith is what connects us to God!

I want to share with you a faith-exercise that is powerful and amazing. The reason I ask you to make a pledge is for the sake of Concordia. The reason I ask you to tithe/give is for you! God wants to grow your faith. And in the book of Malachi, He gives us to an exercise to grow our faith in the most amazing way. It allows us to trust God more day after day.

The prophet, Malachi, served during a time when Israel wasn’t faithful. They cheated God in the offerings they were supposed to bring. God wanted them to bring their best offerings to Him. But not because He needs their animals.

God doesn’t need their animals. So, why is He asking for them? He doesn’t want something from the people. He wants to do something for the people!
He wants to grow their faith! So, God gives Malachi this message for the people.

God says, “When you trust me in this way, you will see how faithful/trustworthy I really am!