Please find below Sam Karl's notes from the Mid-service comments this past Sunday on the faithfulness of God and it's power in our Christian lives.
The gravity like factor that keeps us going on our Christian life is the faithfulness of God.
Lamentations 3:22-23 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end 23 they are new every morning; Why? How are we guaranteed that it will be new every morning? great is your faithfulness.
I’m a Christian today as I was yesterday simply because God remains faithful. And that is precisely why He is a Bulwark never failing.
This faithful God has called each of us cto be a steward – since all that we are and everything that we have has been given to us by Him. As a steward, we are required to imitate our master and our God that we might grow in faithfulness and become more like our Savior.
Where does the Bible say it is required? We saw a few weeks ago in 1 Corinthians 4, in the context of Accurately Assessing our Spiritual Leaders.
I Corinthians 4:2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.
Some translations translate it as “trustworthy” as in... “that they be found trustworthy” – communicating the same truth. The general application is true for all of us. The concept of “Stewardship – accountability & needing to be found faithful” are essentially the message of many of our Lord’s parables (Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 16:1-13).
It is not enough that I am Christ-like within the 4 walls of this building but I need to be Christ-like everywhere. God has called us to faithfulness in all things and in all places.
Faithfulness is a fruit of the Spirit. In other words, faithfulness will equate to success in the eyes of God.
Which means, I will only stand approved before God, if I am found to be faithful by the grace of God and by the work of the Holy Spirit in me.
• If we are ever going to faithful, it only starts with the realization that we are insignificant – just stewards and not masters.
• This Christian life is not about us. It’s about Him.
• John the Baptist, our Lord’s disciples, Apostle Paul and scores of other saints mentioned in Hebrews 11 never saw themselves as significant and their hearts were found to be faithful.
2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, Why? Doesn’t God know that we are just jars of clay? to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
As I lead in prayer this morning, I want to ask you:
• Do you consider yourself to somebody significant? If that’s so, it would be hard for you to be faithful. The titles we might hold within a local Church only means we have varying degrees of accountability but the basic truth that all stewards are accountable and need to be found faithful remains the same.
• Is your Christian life marked by faithfulness?
• Are you faithfully enduring your life’s situations that God is using to make you more like Him?
• Are you being faithful in little?
• How you growing in your faithfulness? Are you faithful in feeding your soul?
Many questions I know. Let’s start with 3 things. Everything else will eventually fall in place.
1. Be faithful in regular Scriptural intake
2. Be faithful in participating in regular God centered prayer
3. Be faithful in mundane things of life looking unto the author and finisher of our faith.
Let’s pray:
Our loving faithful Father, we praise you that there is no variation or shadow due to change. You are the same yesterday, today and forever. Many times, we forget your faithfulness to us but you never forget us. We thank you and please forgive us for that. Please help us to be faithful even when no one is watching – even in the smallest of things. When we stand before you, may we be found in Christ as faithful stewards of your grace. We thank you for your grace that is sufficient for the day. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.