Faith that Works, Love that Labors, Hope that Endures

Question. Does your faith work? This isn't about perfection. It's not about having it all together or faking it even. This is about direction. Is there evidence that your faith is alive? And before you start to think, oh, this is a try harder kind of thing. Don't miss what Paul is doing here. He's not commanding this. He's thanking God for this. [00:39:59] (28 seconds)  #FaithThatWorks

If work of faith is I act because I trust God, labor of love is I give because I love people. You know, our culture defines love by a feeling. The Bible defines love by action, sacrifice, and choice. By the definition of love we see around us, you only sacrifice as long as you feel whatever you feel, call it love and think they deserve it. But scripture defines it altogether differently. [00:42:00] (33 seconds)  #LoveIsAction

God will do something that makes it so evident that he alone is God. That's where he shows up and does some of his best work. Paul would say to the church in Rome, Romans chapter five, he said, not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance and hope does not put us to shame. The sound of people praising God when they have every reason for despair is other worldly. [00:47:02] (39 seconds)  #HopeInSuffering

We are not a people of panic. If we are panicking, it's showing some reliance or hope in something we shouldn't be relying on or hoping in. We are a people of hope And beyond that, we of all people ought to know that God does his best work and some of his best work in the most dire situations because it is there that he will do something. Haven't you seen this? [00:46:33] (29 seconds)  #PeopleOfHope

Love is not not about what you say as much as it is about what you do. You wanna see dissonance? See a parent who says, I love you, and then does not act in a loving way towards their kids. You wanna confuse a kid? Do that. And you know this kind of love when you see it. I bet you can remember a time in your life when someone loved you even when you didn't deserve it. [00:42:58] (24 seconds)  #ActionsNotWords

Today, the prevalence of despair and doom is pretty overwhelming, isn't it? You ever get tired of bad news? Our news distributors, some of the most popular YouTubers or social media people, and even many growing churches are motivated and even monetized by fear. Paul was saying that it was a great thing to thank God for a church that has hope that endures. [00:45:40] (27 seconds)  #HopeOverFear

And she told the story later saying that everything in her wanted to pull back, but instead she reached out her hand and forgave him. And that one act, that labor of love, we're still talking about eighty years later. That's love that labors. Love that does the hard thing. Love that's born, by the way, out of love that labored for them. [00:44:11] (26 seconds)  #ForgivenessEndures

He started reading the Bible. He just randomly started going to church, started getting closer to Jesus. He is weeping telling me this story. And he's talking about all of this, and then he goes, and what's crazy is now I'm doing all the things I think they used to do as just check boxes. Now I'm doing them. What faith filled irony. [00:39:05] (22 seconds)  #RealFaithJourney