James 2 - Grace without works is dead. Why?

 "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."

Walk the talk. This phrase is seen all over. If you believe something, then show it. If you believe in Jesus, then follow Him and His ways. If you believe in God, do everything in your power to please Him.

Let us compare the body without the spirit. It is an empty shell. There is no life in it. So faith without action has no life in it. It is not saying that we will be judged by the Law but rather that if we live by grace, then life in grace shows a different fruit. If the fruit does not show, then the tree is dead. It needs to be nourished. It needs to be attached to the vine.

We need to be attached to Jesus and the fruit automatically shows. It is not the fruit that is important but the attachment to the vine. However, if we show no fruit, then it means that we are not attached to the vine. You can believe all you want that you are attached to the vine but the results prove otherwise. Just as you can say you have worked your hardest, but the results prove otherwise.

So live not for the fruit but for the vine but use the fruit to monitor your growth. Because if you lack action, then it means you lack faith.

Treating Unfairness in Life

Romans 12:11-12

Saturday, April 16, 2016

“Never be lacking in zeal but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer”

Joyful in hope. Hope is when we have faith in something we cannot see, like hoping for a better day. As Christians, we hope for the day when we will see Jesus. Therefore we are joyful. Whether trials or pestilence, they cannot rob us of this - that in the end we will see Jesus. This is the greatest joy. Don’t let anyone nor anything bring you doubts about this. This is what you should fix your eyes on. The Lord Jesus Christ has done it all. All we have to do is endure this life and let God use us for His plans and purposes whatever it may be. In the end, we will still see Jesus. Don’t think of life as being unfair to you. God is not about fairness, He is just. And everything will happen in the end as it is supposed to. Take unfairness as a common thing. Expect it to come even in the quietest moments when least expected. Treat everyone equally and don’t let another disrupt you following Jesus.

Patience in affliction. Your endurance is being tested every single day. And it grows as it is being tested. Patience will bring you a long way in life. Why does God call us to be patient in affliction? Why does God put affliction on us in the first place? We know that it is for our benefit that we are afflicted, so that we may learn from it and grow. At the same time, we know that not all affliction is from God and we should not choose to stay in affliction but find a way out of it. Going through affliction will also help you to see the power of the Holy Spirit at work in your life. So be patient until God provides you a way out of your affliction. Discern wisely and act on it. But in the process do not say that life is unfair to you. You do not know what others are going through.

Faithful in prayer. Prayer is what connects us to God. Prayer is what helps us tap into the unseen power of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is what keeps us intact. Without prayer, we feel hopeless, impatient and hungry for the world. Prayer brings us back to our senses, brings us back to Jesus. Prayer brings new perspective for us. Prayer helps us fix our eyes on Jesus.

It hit me that all these three – being joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer – are ways of overcoming the world, especially the unfairness of the world. "I have overcome the world," says our Lord Jesus Christ. In the end, we will still see Jesus. Amen.

Sermon - Faith Factors - Rev. Benedict Rajan

3 faith factors to build an altar to Jesus
Mark 5:25-34
1.  My desperation in God's hand is His inspiration for His divine intervention
- Are you desperate enough for a touch of God?
- Spirit of faith 2 Cor 4:13
- Her frustration was faith filled
- Jer 33:3
- Prov 3:5-6 trust in God
- Psalm 27:14 wait for God

2.  Your wastage in the hands of God is a dynamic supernatural usage
- 2 Cor 5:17
- Nothing is wasted in the kingdom of God
- Luke 5:4
- Nothing is lost or robbed from you in the kingdom of God
- Joel 2:25-26
- Eph 3:20

3.  The end of men always brings a new beginning in the hands of God
- 3 John 2
- Isa 43:18-19
- Do not live in your past
- Joshua 3:4-5

Sermon - Faith for Miracles - Rev. Benedict Rajan

Faith is the connector between us and God

3 Essential Statements of Jesus:
1.  Mark 10:27 - With men this is impossible but with God it is possible

2.  Mark 9:23 - to them who believes, everything is possible

3.  If you have faith like a mustard seed and you would say to this mountain move and throw yourself into the sea, and it will come to pass

You have a natural ability to believe
You believe that the chair will not break when you sit on it

If you have faith like a mustard seed, you may not be able to feel it. But you can move mountains

I'm qualified for a miracle

To each of us, a measure of faith is available

Rom 12:3 - I believe and therefore I speak

Life and death is in the power of the tongue 2 Cor 4:13

Rom 10:11 - whoever believes in Jesus will not be ashamed

4 types of miracles:
1.  The miracle of new life
- 2 Cor 2:17
- It becomes new the day you give your life to Jesus
- Matt 11:28
- Jer 29:11
- John 1:12
- 1 John 3:1
- John 3:16
- 1 John 4:19
- Eph 1:7 - Jesus did not send an angel or a priest. He came himself to die for us
- Rom 6:23 - all have sinned
- John 10:10

2.  The miracle of healing
- Isa 53:5
- The fountain of healing is open to you
- Isa 10:27
- Psalm 107:26

3.  The miracle of breakthrough and deliverance
- Rev 12:11
- John 8:32, 36
- 2 Tim 1:7
- Isa 41:10-13
- Psalm 56:3

4.  The providential hidden miracles of God
- Pleasant surprises
- Jer 33:3
- Eph 3:26
- 1 Cor 2:9
- Isa 45:3

Faith Dealings

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Luke 18:1-8

V8 talks about the Son of Man coming and whether He will find faith on this earth. Thus it would mean that the previous verses are also talking about faith. So what is faith but a woman seeking justice from a judge, and when she does not get it, she cries out to him day and night. Soon the judge is tired out and decides to avenge her.

Faith is knowing that your Father in heaven hears your prayers and desires that your prayers be answered. Therefore, if your Father in heaven is just unlike the judge, He will definitely run to your rescue.

“Faith is knowing”. I was reflecting on this and I think this applies to every context of the bible. The bible says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God”. Why? Because the more we hear the Word of God, the more we know what the Word of God says concerning our lives. The more we know this, the more we know what is true in the supernatural. With that we can not only believe but be sure that the things that God has said, He will do.

Faith is knowing that God is your Father in heaven and that everything He has belongs to you because the bible says that you’re a child of God and that you inherit God’s kingdom.

Faith is knowing that God is your Best Friend and that He will walk with you, comfort you, fight for you and talk with you wherever you go.

Faith is knowing that God is faithful and will never let you run alone, that God is in every trial and circumstance, every pain and disaster that is happening in your life.

Faith is knowing that in every injustice dealt upon your life, you are not to avenge yourself but let God avenge for you. Faith is also knowing that God desires that you avenge the injustice of others.

Faith is knowing that God does not work but through the prayers and hands of men. That He has called us to be His witnesses, intercessors, priests and leaders of this generation.

Faith is knowing that God is Abba Father, that in everything you do, He cares and is there for you to ask of Him, to cry out to Him, to encourage and to be there for you.

Faith is knowing that everything in the bible is God’s word and that heaven and earth may pass away, but the Word of God will still remain and everything that is said will come to past when we activate the Word of God.

Faith is Knowing.