Faith

A pastor in California was giving an invitation at the end of his Sunday morning message when a five-year old boy, sensing the invitation of the Holy Spirit came down the aisle. Not knowing if the boy was old enough to understand salvation, the pastor took him to his office and began to ask some theological questions. The more he questioned, the more confused the boy became. Finally, in exasperation, the little fellow stopped and innocently pleaded, “Pastor Patterson, in your message this morning you said that if I would come and ask Jesus to save me—He would!

During the French war, a train carrying dispatches to the headquarters was compelled to go over sixty miles of very rough track, and reach its destination within an hour. The engineer was the bearer of the dispatches, and his wife and child were in the coach. Every moment threatened to pitch the train over the embankment or over a bridge, and, as it rolled from side to side, leaping at times almost in the air, rushing past stations, the few people inside held their breath and often cried out with terror as they sped along.

Faith honors God and God honors faith. For 10 years Robert and Mary Moffat labored faithfully in Bechuanaland (now called Botswana) without one ray of encouragement to brighten their way. They could not report a single convert.

Dr. Helen Roseveare, missionary to Zaire, told the following story. “A mother at our mission station died after giving birth to a premature baby. We tried to improvise an incubator to keep the infant alive, but the only hot water bottle we had was beyond repair. So we asked the children to pray for the baby and for her sister. One of the girls responded. ‘Dear God, please send a hot water bottle today. Tomorrow will be too late because by then the baby will be dead.

“I would recommend you either believe God up to the hilt, or else not to believe at all. Believe this Book of God, every letter of it, or else reject it. There is no logical standing place between the two. Be satisfied with nothing less than a faith that swims in the deeps of divine revelation; a faith that paddles about the edge of the water is poor faith at best. It is little better than a dry-land faith, and is not good for much.”—C. H. Spurgeon

Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College

On one occasion J. C. Penney was asked the reason for His success. He said, “Adversity, and Jesus Christ.”

Source: McHenry's Quips, Quotes & Other Notes, Raymond McHenry

In the late 1800’s George Mueller operated an orphanage that at one time had 1,000 orphans. One morning there was no food to eat, but he called all the children and staff together and prayed thanking God for the provision of food, even though no food was on the table. A few moments later a baker knocked on the door. He told Mr. Muller that God had led him to bake bread the night before and give it to the orphanage. Before the bread was given to the children, a milkman knocked on the door. He said that his milk truck had broken down and he wanted to give the milk to the orphanage.

The Muslim puts faith in the Koran and Mohammed.

The Buddhist puts faith in graven images.

The Humanist puts faith in himself.

The Religious man puts faith in his works.

The Materialist puts faith in his wealth.

But, a true spiritual life of faith is only as good as its object. (Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.)

One night a house caught on fire, and a little boy was stranded on the second floor. All the boy could see was smoke and flames. However, he could hear his father’s voice. telling him to jump. The boy said, “Daddy, I can’t see you.”

The dad said, “But I can see you, and that’s all that matters.”

We cannot see God, but He can see us and that is all that matters.

Source: Unknown

The story is told of an old man who was wandering in the desert looking for water. He approached an old shack and on the porch area he found a water pump. Next to the water pump he saw a one gallon jug. A note on the jug said, “Use all the water to prime the pump.” The man’s instincts said to drink the water and not trust the pump. Nevertheless he poured the water into the pump and began pumping until an abundance of cool water came to the top.

Mormons say that the angel Moroni visited Joseph Smith and completed the compilation and writing of the Book of Mormon. He told Joseph Smith where to find golden plates buried near his family home. He then translated what was written on those plates (the Book of Mormon). Eleven men are said to have seen the plates and three of them were relatives of Joseph Smith.

A mother and her four-year-old daughter were preparing to retire for the night. The child was afraid of the dark, and the mother, on this occasion alone with the child, felt fearful also. When the light was out, the child caught a glimpse of the moon outside the window. “Mother,” she asked, “is the moon God’s light?”

“Yes,” said the mother.

The next question was, “Will God put out His light and go to sleep?”

The mother replied, “No, my child, God never goes to sleep.”

When Adoniram Judson was lying in a jail in Burma with thirty-two pounds of chains on his ankles which were tied to a bamboo pole, another prisoner asked, “Dr. Judson, what about the prospect of the conversion of the heathen?”

Judson replied, “The prospects are just as bright as the promises of God.”

Source: The Foreign Missionary, Arthur Judson Brown

On December 22, 1899, the evangelist D. L. Moody lay dying. His first job had been as a shoe clerk in Boston, gathering eighteen ragged boys off the street to organize a Sunday school class. In two years the class had grown to fifteen hundred. In his lifetime Moody was to take two continents in his hands and shake them for God. As he died, he left this epitaph written on the flyleaf of his Bible, “If God be your partner, make your plans large.”

Source: Peloubet's Select Notes on the International Lessons, Adolphus Frederick Schauffler

Brother Kuykendal was a pastor in Texas when H. Z. Duke, founder of Duke and Ayers Nickel Stores, asked him if he believed in tithing to which he replied that he did. Mr. Duke then asked him if he practiced tithing. He answered, “No, I do not. I believe in tithing, but I cannot practice it. You see, I have thirteen children at home. Every meal fifteen of us sit down at the table. I receive only $125 a month, $1500 a year, as salary. I have to maintain my own horse and buggy for constant traveling.

James Cash Penney (who started J. C. Penney stores) made some unwise commitments and became very depressed. He worried so much that he developed shingles. He went to see his doctor who admitted him to the hospital, but his condition became worse. One night he was prescribed a sedative that quickly wore off, and he awoke believing that he would die that night. He wrote letters to his family and fell asleep.

A missionary had been teaching tithing to his church. One morning a young Christian came to the missionary’s door with a fishing pole in one hand and a fish in the other hand. He said, “Here’s my tithe.”

The missionary asked him where the rest of his fish were and the man replied, “Oh, they’re in the river, I just wanted to bring God His first.”

Source: Unknown

Lauren McCain was one of the students killed at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007. The freshman from Shawnee, Oklahoma left a powerful statement about her faith on her personal web site. The 20-year-old had written, “The purpose and love of my life is Jesus Christ. I don’t have to argue religion, philosophy, or historical evidence because I KNOW Him.”

Source: The New York Times

When Hudson Taylor sailed to China, he heard an urgent knock on his stateroom door. He opened it, and there stood the captain of the ship. “Mr. Taylor,” he said, “we have no wind. We are drifting toward an island where the people are heathen, and I fear they are cannibals.”

“What can I do?” asked Taylor.

“I understand that you believe in God. I want you to pray for wind.”

“All right, Captain, I will, but you must set the sail.”

The African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall. Faith is the ability to trust what we cannot see, and with faith we are freed from the flimsy enclosures of life that only fear allows to entrap us.

Source: Unknown

Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College