Good morning brothers
Here is the off-week Wednesday morning reminder of what we talked about and that there is a meeting again next week for everyone who is interested.
We looked at Hebrews Chapter 11. Its all about what faith is.
We talked about:
– blind faith
– How do you know faith?
– The journey of faith and how sometimes it starts by hitting rock bottom
– learning to trust through faith
– surrendering to the Holy Spirit
– Is our faith strong? Would it stand up to facing death?
We debated that we are fighting the same moral fights today that they were fighting 3000 years ago. Is it really the same thing? (read Wisdom chapter 2 as a reference)
I let Russ down by not having Fr. Mathews Wednesday homily with me for the meeting. It was just in a different spot than I thought it was. So I wrote it out and published it with the rest of his homilies here:
It is a good one and it talks about the depth of our faith. Are we friendly with God when its convenient or when its tough.
We talked a little about the subtle difference between the faith alone vs faith and works theologies, and how at the end of the day they really produce the same fruits. But understanding theology does matter, even when its slight differences. Because you will be asked to teach things properly, and if you have things mixed up, you create confusion without meaning to.
For some reason we talked about the Greek word for Faith. I wrote down Hypostasis, but when I looked it up for spelling, it comes up as this instead:
In the Bible, the Greek word pistis most commonly means faith, belief, and trust. It encompasses more than just intellectual assent; it involves a deep conviction that leads to reliance on God and his promises. The word is also related to the concepts of assurance, confidence, and fidelity.
Notable comments that are worth recalling:
– Our new friend Kurt made the comment that he learned from his journey so far: Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
– We asked the question, do we need to be challenged in our faith, to ultimately find ways to strengthen our faith?
– When people ask us “Have you accepted Jesus as your personal saviour?” it begs a couple questions.
1. Have I?
2. What does it mean to me vs what it means to the person asking?
3. Do Catholics ask this of ourselves without some random person asking us? Should we?
– Dont drive your kids to resentment. Looking up the bible verses about this I came up with these:
Ephesians 6:4
Colossians 3:2
When you have faith you are like a stranger in a foreign land. Proper faith leads you forward. Not looking back, dwelling in the past or wanting to return. Always looking forward to Heaven.
We talked at Alpha this week about miracles and how they are intended to bring people to faith. They are for the glory of God, not to relieve us of our burdens or suffering. But to strengthen faith. Its healthy to remember that God doesn’t actually need us to do His work. But our choices and fear from the challenges sometimes fail those we serve in His name. Here is a youtube video worth listening to.
We are always talking about planting the seeds. Everywhere we go, we should be planing the seeds of faith. Sometimes they take root, sometimes they land on rocky soil or hardened hearts. But the seed is there. Its not our obligation to keep track of the seeds and work to water them or harvest them when they are ready. We can rest assured that sometimes the job of nurturing and harvesting will be best served by other people. Its ok to let those closest to you get the water and harvest from others. But in saying that, we by logical stages, need to be ready to water and ultimately harvest seeds that others have planted. God will put those opportunities ahead of you. Be confident in Him that He will help you when you are faced with those things. But don’t shy away from the work he places on your heart. Water and nurture those seeds out there.
Next meeting is Wednesday, Nov 19 at 7pm
Chris
