Generation MOVE: The Object and Purpose of Our Faith

The Object and Purpose of Our Faith

"By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." ~Hebrews 11.5, 6

Faith must have an object. When I sit down in a chair, I'm proving my faith in the carpenter who built the chair. The carpenter is the object of my faith. If the chair holds me up, then I gain assurance that the carpenter knew what he was doing when he made the chair. I might even go over to a book-shelf he also made and place some valuables on it. And the carpenter rewards my trust in him and in his ability by continuing to construct solid furniture.

In Hebrews 11.1 Paul writes, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Just like the example of the chair, we can have conviction that God is faithful by trusting Him and setting all our hopes in Him. From ages ago, we can look back and see how past generations trusted Him and were not disappointed. Our hope is in the promise that "for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8.28). Even though we can't see what God is doing through a difficult situation, we can trust in that hope because of our conviction that God is faithful.

As we can read from Hebrews 11.5, Enoch was taken up to Heaven by God because he pleased God. The most direct way we can please God, is to trust Him completely. This means trusting what He tells us in His Word and then exercising faith by moving on it. One thing that he tells us, is to be a light to the world (Matthew 5.14). In Matthew 5.16, Jesus says, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

The purpose of our faith is to please God and to be a light to men. But in order for the world to know what the object of our faith is, we need to be vocal about Who we trust in. If we are commanded to be a light to men, then we must be absolutely certain that they understand the Gospel, which is the good news about the first Light of the World. Evangelism must accompany a God-pleasing faith just like faith requires an object and a movement.

This is how the world will see how our movements are different from any other self-motivated acts of goodwill. Static beliefs don't require a god to exist, whereas faith does. The object of static belief is the person themself and any movement will obviously proceed from that person alone. Self-motivated actions end in self-pleasing results, but God-motivated actions end in God-pleasing results, fulfilling the object and purpose of our faith. God must be the motivation for our faith and the object of our faith.

Song Spotlight: Move by Thousand Foot Krutch


Lyrics:

Look, listen to my voice
If you're making the choice
Tell me all the girls and the boys
Either scream or rejoice
Let's make that noise
Either move or we will all be destroyed

[Chorus]
Move and show me what you can do
When you step into the circle and shake like we do
Move when you just can't take it
And move if you just feel like breaking it

Can you hear me? Stop, look, listen to my voice,
It was never my choice to feel all alone
This is my home
Back up , you don't know if you've never been here,
You've never been to the place inside, I face my fears
It takes everything I am

[Chorus x2]

If you come near me, stop, look, listen to my voice
If you're making the choice tell all the girls and the boys
Either scream or rejoice
Let's make that noise
Either move or we will all be destroyed
Back up and let go if you've never been here,
You've never been to the place inside, I face my fears,
It takes everything I am

[Chorus]

I come crashing to the floor
And I know there must be more like me
I've seen this all before, I can't carry this anymore, break free
Breath, and leave until the storm is over
'Cause underneath, there's a diamond passing over
So breath, let's leave until the storm is over,
Because I want to take you away

[Chorus]

Notices: Want to get serious about evangelizing? Here's an event for you:

Street Evangelism Day

Date: Saturday, May 31, 2008
Time: 11:00am - 8:30pm
Location: Badeer's house 20850 South 134th Street
Hickman, NE 68372
City/Town: Lincoln, NE
Contact InfoPhone: 402.788.2569 (ask for Preston, tell him you heard about it from Gen. Move)
Email: contact@upwardm.com or upwardmomentum89@hotmail.com

We meet at the Badeer's house at the start time and then we'll get ready, talk, and basically make sure we're all on the same page....Then we leave for Lincoln, wherever is best to evangelize. We will end at 5.