WE ARE AWAY...TALKING FAITH

Melinda and I left yesterday morning with some of the team to dissect how Jesus took people from a place of NO faith to a place of Great Faith...

Here is what we've found so far...Here is a quick edit: It's not like we haven't seen this in scripture before, it is that we are trying to clearly and concisely define what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ through The Rock Church. Every church has a culture and a system of making disciples. Most are similar in reality because we are following the Bible. We are simply trying to make our process at The Rock simpler. We have been a tremendous gathering church, getting a lot of people saved; now, we want to be not only that, but a church full of disciple making Christians. We have done that pretty well, but we can improve.

For all of us we start at a position of NO Faith. This is the stage of our life where we are dead to the things of God, but He doesn't leave us that way; instead, he reaches toward us with His love. At that point we cross over, by believing in our heart and confessing with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, we are saved and have NEW Faith.

Well, it can't stop there. From there we put ourself in position for our faith to mature, to grow. At that point we have GROWING Faith, through H2O baptism, Baptism of the Holy Spirit, understanding our gifts, fruits and purpose. Growth leads to PRACTICING Faith; in that, we start acting, living and loving like a person of Faith, Jesus being our example. Finally, we are fulfilling the message of Christ when we start reaching out to others--friends, co-workers, family members--with our faith, PASSING ON Faith.

NO Faith changes to NEW Faith, and new faith to GROWING Faith, and growing faith to PRACTICING Faith, and practicing faith to PASSING ON Faith. Think about Peter, he had NO Faith, but he ended up PASSING ON Faith to a crowd of his countrymen in the city.

It challenges me to ask some tough questions:
Where am I in my walk between NO Faith and PASSING ON Faith?
What is my plan for GROWING Faith? Do I need to get water baptized, baptized in the Holy Spirit, take some classes, connect to my church, get in a Reach Team? Do I finally need to decide to move past where I am at?
Where have I positioned myself for PRACTICING Faith? Am I volunteering anywhere, making a difference in other lives?
When was the last time I was PASSING ON my Faith? Do I share my faith with others? Do I tell about what Jesus has done in me?

These are intense questions we are looking to answer about our lives and the lives in The Rock Church. We return on Wednesday.