How Can I Have Faith? Alpha Course 04
Video of the complete Livestream where Matt asks, “How Can I Have Faith?”
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Talk: How Can I Have Faith?
It is one of those great questions because it lies at the heart of humanity. Even if you're not a Christian, you have faith in something or someone. Faith is a belief. It's trust; it's part of life. So how does that make sense in the context of God? How can I have faith in God? How can I trust Him with my life? Great questions. And for me, the answer comes down to an elementary word, relationship.
I'm married to the wonderful and amazing Sharon. She is beyond amazing. The day I met her, my life changed instantly. Eventually, I persuaded her that we should date. And so we did. And five months later, we were engaged. A year later than that, we were married. And that was over 23 incredible years ago. That relationship has rocked my world. And, for the better.
And as soon as we were married, things started to change for me. I began to eat better; I started being more gracious towards people; I became a better man because of the wonderful woman I was married to. I was never the same again. The old life had gone. And indeed, a new life had begun for me.
And this analogy was used by Paul, one of the key writers of the New Testament. He said this,
So anyone who belongs to Christ, anyone who is a Christian. In other words, anyone who is in a relationship with God. And as life-changing as my marriage is, as beautiful as that relationship is, it's not the same as the life-changing relationship I have with God.
What does it mean to be a Christian?
For some people, the word Christian is quite a negative word. Based on their experiences, based on their understanding of Christians who they've met in the past. Some of the Christians I know are weird. And that's true, especially if you write soap operas and dramas. They really don't like Christians! So, maybe Christianity has a negative tone.
But the word Christian is fascinating, Christ-ian. It means someone who follows Jesus and puts their faith in Jesus Christ. How do people do that? For me, there's a very definite moment in my history. It was Christmas time, 1991. I was 18 years old when I gave my life to Christ. For other people, there may not be that definite moment. They may well say, I've always been a Christian. And I hope that is the story of my kids, that they'll be able to say that I've never known a time in my life where I wasn't a Christian. I was brought up a Christian, and I'm still a Christian. That would be amazing!
If you're travelling on a train from Paris to Berlin, some people on that train know the exact moment they cross the border. Other people might not. They might have been asleep. But what matters is that you know you're in Berlin. That's what's important.
That's what's important. It doesn't matter how you became a Christian. What matters is that you know you are a Christian now. So what is this faith, this confidence, this assurance based on? Let’s find out…
The Analogy of a Tripod
Let's use an analogy of a tripod to understand faith in Christ. A tripod has three legs, and each one of them is essential. So using the analogy of my marriage, if you asked me, How do I know I'm married? I can point you to our marriage certificate, which is more than just a feeling. It's an actual living document that governs my life.
Imagine if I woke up one morning and said, Sharon, you know what, I just don't feel married today. Yeah, that's not going to go down well at all on any level. You see, knowing something and feeling something isn't always the same thing. My marriage is based on more than how I feel right now.
The same is true with my Christian faith. If you ask me, How do I know, I'm a Christian? I could point you to a document that is The Word of God.
#1 - The Word of God
Paul said in Romans 10:17,
So by this hearing of the Bible, the word of God, faith is built. When we hear it, when we interact with the Bible, we interact with God. He speaks through the Bible. For example, Jesus said,
That's pretty amazing, sharing a meal with Jesus. See, this is a promise from Jesus that we can believe.
“The Light of the World”, Painting by Holman Hunt
Jesus does not gatecrash into our lives
If you look at this painting, you see that the door is overgrown with thorns and thistles. It's like the person's never actually opened the door to Jesus. And Jesus is knocking. When Holman Hunt painted this painting, people said to him that this is a great painting. But someone pointed it out to him that he had made a mistake. And he said, well, what do you mean? Look at the door. There's no handle. And Holman Hunt replied, that's not a mistake. There is a handle. But it is on the inside.
In other words, Jesus is not going to force his way into your life. He stands at the door and knocks, and he leaves it up to you and to me to decide whether or not to invite Him in to be part of our lives.
But his promise in this verse says that if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in, not, I might come in, not, I'll think about coming in, because I'm not quite sure if I like you. No, no, no. You can be utterly confident that if you invite Him in, He will always be with you. He will never leave you, the Bible says.
And he says this relationship is not just for now. It's for eternity. That's a life-changing relationship. And we can believe that and be fully assured of it. So that's the first leg of the tripod. The Word of God. Just because we read it, and we can believe it. And God said it.
#2 - The Work of Jesus
The second leg of this tripod is the work of Jesus. Now, if you ask me how I know that I'm married? I can point to my marriage certificate, as I mentioned. I can also point to an event on the third of May in 1998. And if you ask me, how do I know that I'm a Christian? I can point to an event in the history of the world, that is, the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
Sometimes people say, “I don't think I could be a Christian because I'm not good enough. And if I was going to be a Christian, there are a few things in my life that I just need to sort out first”. Let me tell you, that's not true. You come just as you are with all your burdens, your success, your money, or the lack of it. It's not about what you have achieved or what you can achieve. It's about what he has done for you on the cross.
What do you think about the second part of this verse, the phrase "free gift"? I always believe that there's a bit of a catch. I'm suspicious of that kind of thing, that's for sure. Yesterday, I ordered a couple of new t-shirts online. Because now we're doing everything online. And the website offered me free shipping. But to get that free shipping, I had to spend £120 ($150) on t-shirts. Guess what? I didn't get free shipping because I didn't spend £120 on t-shirts.
I offer free shipping on my websites, too. And if you don't know, I run my own online companies and sell stuff online. And I tell customers that they also can have free shipping. But even though it says free on the website, it still costs something. Shipping isn't cheap.
So we don't have to be suspicious of God's free gift. But we do have to understand; it's not cheap. It cost Jesus his life. So because of the work of Christ, I can have faith. Faith in this free gift from God, not a con. It's genuinely a free gift that he extends to us. That's leg number two.
#3 - The Witness of the Holy Spirit
If you ask me, How do I know I'm married? I can point to my marriage certificate; I can point to an event in May 1998. But more importantly, I can also point to over 23 years of marriage and the experiences of that marriage. It's the same with me being a Christian. I can look at the Bible, and I can look at the works of Jesus. But I can also point you to over 30 years of experiences that I have had walking with Him.
When Jesus walks with us, He is with his by His Spirit, the Holy Spirit. And the Bible uses the analogy of the Holy Spirit being like the wind. Has anyone ever seen wind or not? I don't think I have. But I believe the wind exists because I can see its impact. So you can see what happens to the leaves on the trees, you can see the power of the wind, and it's the same with the Holy Spirit.
The above verse in Galatians gives us a great list of attributes that the Holy Spirit produces in us. How do you do on that list? These are the things I see that the Holy Spirit has brought into my life. I think I'm way more patient with people and kinder than I have ever been because of my walk with Christ. Occasionally, I still have issues with self-control. But the Holy Spirit is still working in me. He works in us, and we experience Him. We get to know Him. Just like I've got to know my wife. It's a real, living relationship. I understand Him more now.
Before I was a Christian, Jesus, to me, was nothing more than a swear word. Now when I hear the word, Jesus, I think, that's my mate, my friend. That's my God, my Lord!
The Holy Spirit transforms our lives
The above verse in Romans is a witness of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit joins with our spirits to affirm, witness, or declare that we are God's children. It's not a blind leap of faith. It is a deep, guttural kind of knowing deep in my soul.
I know that Sharon is the perfect wife for me. And every day that passes in our marriage, I know it more and more and more, I'm so convinced of it. And the more I walk with God, the more I see that I am his child, the more I know that I am here for His purpose, that my life is not some big cosmic accident, but that he knew me before the foundation of the world. I know that I will meet him in the clouds one day and that Heaven is my absolute eternity. I know this.
Maybe some of you have a robust and vibrant relationship with God like me, you know it. But perhaps some of you are flagging in your walk with God. You don't have the vibrancy of faith that you once had. Or maybe you have never actually taken the opportunity to pray. And like the scripture says, opened the door to Jesus as He stands there knocking.
For others, it may be too soon for you to do that. Maybe it's too soon in your journey to pray. And that's okay. But if you would like to pray and take this opportunity to open the door to Christ, here's how you do it. It's just a simple prayer that says sorry for the past, thanking Jesus for what he has done on the cross for you and inviting him to come into your life by His Spirit.
A prayer for becoming a Christian
Lord Jesus Christ, thank you that you loved me so much. I now turn away from everything I know is wrong, all the bad stuff. Thank you that you died so that I could be forgiven. I put my trust in you and in what you did on the cross. And now, I open the door of my heart and invite you to come into my life. By your spirit, to be with me forever. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen.
Saying the prayer is simple. But this is more than just a prayer. We are actively putting our faith in Christ every day for the rest of our lives. It's committing your life to Him and his purposes. If you have prayed that prayer today, we’d love to hear from you. Just get in touch with us via the church website, www.crowd.church and we would love to help point you in the right direction to starting an authentic and vibrant walk with Christ!
Questions we ask this week
Conversation Street is part of our live stream, where the hosts (in this case, Matt & Rach) chat through Matt’s talk and answer questions that were sent in through the live stream. You can watch the conversation in the video, it starts at 35 min 56 seconds into the live stream, or you can go straight there by clicking the button below. This week’s questions and topics of conversation are:
How do you become a Christian?
How did you become a Christian?
How did you know that you needed God?
Have you ever doubted the decision of becoming a Christian?
How did you overcome your crisis of faith?
Have you ever wondered whether Christianity was authentic and not just a whole big conspiracy?
Is there scientific evidence supporting the Christian faith?