Sunday, April 3, 2011

Purpose of this Blog

This Blog has been set up to Share your:

Faith
Experiences where you have sighted God
Requested and answered prayers
Service stories

1 comment:

  1. Journey of Faith
    By Bill Ross

    How much faith does a person need to sit in the pew? How much faith does a person need to receive communion? How much faith does a person need to become a member of the church? How much faith does a person need to become an officer of the church? How much faith did Mary have to believe the angel Gabriel that she would give birth to the Son of God?
    The preacher who sent the Letter to the Hebrews wrote in chapter 11; “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” The Heroes of Faith are expanded on in this chapter. Listed are Abel, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and others. How much faith does a person need to get their name in the Holy Scripture?
    Paul wrote to the Romans “I am not ashamed of the Gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.’ This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” I believe this, and I am not ashamed of the Gospel. Yet I realize how difficult it is to live a righteous life.
    At an early age I was sent to Sunday school, but as a teenager I did not go. In high school there was a teacher who liked to give us sayings and quotations to memorize. “Say my chum, have you seen? 2nd Timothy 2:15, 1st Thessalonians 5:22 tells you exactly what to do.” This is one saying from high school that has stuck in my memory.
    After completing high school and the Korean War had begun I enlisted in the Navy. The recruits were sent in small groups for an interview with the Navy Chaplain. Each recruit received a New Testament. I listened to the chaplain and heard for the first time that Jesus Christ was crucified for me that I might have a fullness of life when I confessed Jesus as my Savior. I was baptized by the Navy Chaplain and joined Mason Presbyterian Church by letter sixty years ago.
    I was thrilled to attend the worship service each Sunday in boot camp. I would read those two verses over and over to memorize them. “Do your best to present yourself to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed and correctly handles the word of truth.” “Avoid every kind of evil.”
    While I was in the Navy I became engaged to Lois by letter writing and believing that God was the “Matchmaker.” How much faith does a person need to believe that God is the true “Matchmaker?” We married and when my Navy hitch was over we settled our growing family back in Ohio.
    The fact of the mystery of faith is that as I step closer to Jesus Christ every day in every way, my faith grows. God has never failed me yet. When I worship, when I pray, when I study the Holy Scripture, when I exercise my stewardship; my faith grows.

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