· All Christians operate on different levels of faith.

· Our goal should be to continually advance upward.

· It is the responsibility of the Christian to nurture the faith.

 

“ So faith comes from hearing, and by hearing the Word of God.” Romans 10:17

 

· When we feed on the Word of God, faith keeps building up.

 

Romans 1:17 ...The righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.

 

· The faith of the Thessalonians grew exceedingly.

 

“We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.”  2 Thessalonians 1:3

 

A. Little Faith

· This stage is characterized by struggling to believe God.

· Little Faith: We just don’t know what God has said in the Bible, so we have nothing to anchor our faith.

· “You of little faith”  is the usual description of apostle Matthew in the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 14:22-33; Matthew 6:30; Matthew 8:26; Matthew 16:8; Matthew 17:20

· “You of little faith, sounds like a put-down, but God is good at making something awesome out of something very little.

· Little faith – the faith that leaves us open to God’s power working within us – the faith that leaves a small space in our hearts where God can do the work of transforming us and transforming the world.

· God will take Peter’s little faith – and working from that small place in the fisherman’s heart – transform him from babbler and coward and denier into an apostle who gave his life for Jesus and the Gospel.

· We have little faith – we make small place in our heart – when we hold steady, when we remain steadfast, when we keep going even when we’re frightened or tired or bewildered.

· The good news is that what was true for Peter is just as true for us – what God did for Peter, God can do for all of us – for all of us of little faith.

 

B. Great Faith

Sometimes called “stretching faith,” it involves stretching to believe the Lord more and more. Christians at this level are beginning to stand on the truth of Scripture.

 

The “great faith” of the centurion.

Matthew 8:5

The “great faith” of the Canaan woman.

Matthew 15:21-28

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