Radical Faith

Greater Galilee Church-in-Training Outline

Radical Faith

 

Every superhero had some kind of special power that they could use to even the odds in their faith against crime.

 

As Christian, what do we have to help us in our fight for the kingdom of God?

Hebrews 11:1, 6

2 Corinthians 5:7

Romans 10:17

 

We have to remember something about what we see:

Not all growth is growth; some growth in church is nothing more than (swelling          ).

Healthy Growth in faith always speaks of (depth         )

Faith should not major in (shallowness        ) or superficiality; the weaker our faith is dimmer our view of (Jesus        ) – we then suffer from spiritual (myopia        ).

John Stott, in his volume, The Radical Faith, sees eight characteristics of a growing and robust faith.

• The first area is (non-conformity        ). Both escapism and conformism are forbidden to the believer. We are called to engage with our culture without compromise.
• The second area is (Christ likeness      ) This is the will of God for the people of God.

There is a (call       ) to Christ likeness, Christ like attributes; and implications of our Christ likeness. One of the reasons our evangelistic efforts fail is that we don’t look like who we are talking about-Christ.

God’s purpose is to make us like Christ, and God’s way is to fill us with his Holy Spirit

• The third area is (maturity         ). The modern church can be described by the phrase “growth without (depth         ). Col 1:28-29   we need a fresh vision of Christ, from the pages of Scripture. We must seek to love, trust and obey him.

“Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of (Christ          ).” 

• A fourth area is (stewardship       ) –creation care. Faith strengthens our (commitment      ) to applying Scripture to contemporary issues of our lives. Faith encourages a biblical case for our responsible stewardship of
• Time
• Talent
• Temple
• Treasure
• Testimony
• Truth

 

• Fifth is (simplicity      ). WE should strive to live a life of peace – Matt.  5:9, 13-14. Jesus kept it simple and s should we.
• The sixth area is (balance        ) 1 Peter 2:1-17.  Here are three areas of balance:
  • Both individual discipleship and corporate (fellowship     )
  • Both( worship     ) and ( work      )
  • Both pilgrimage and citizenship

 

• The seventh area is (dependence         ). We are not designed to be independent from one another: “You are designed to be a burden to me and I am designed to be a burden to you.”

 

So in the person of Christ we learn that dependence does not, cannot, deprive a person of their dignity, of their supreme worth. And if dependence was appropriate for the God of the universe, it is certainly appropriate for us.

• The final area is (death         ). Our discipleship involves a death to self.

Our mission leads to the cross.

(2 Tim 4:7).