Remember the Foundations

A few weeks ago, I shared an acrostic of the word "faith" in a sermon. F - stands for remember the foundations. I am convinced and convicted that our current times challenge "people of faith" to either reaffirm and restore "faith" in God - or to be discouraged. Either extreme is contagious.

Our job is to be salt and light in the world (Mt 5:13-16). To be an influence. What influences you the most? Particularly in matters that challenge conventional wisdom? How does someone strike you who is tentative about their convictions, more worried about how they are received than their thought.

We serve Almighty God who spoke the world into existence, made us in His image, and allowed human choices which would pain him to the point of sending His Son to die for us. Oh, by the way, he spoke the world into existence in seven days. I'm not sure that there is a more challenging thought to many in our world, particularly the "intelligentsia." Intelligentsia describes the elite, generally considered automatically credible in circles of education, artistic expression, or political will. Our kid's text books (generally considered credible) don't exactly read like the Bible regarding how we got here.

The freedom of choice so cherished and protested about - was indeed thought of before any human thought of it. The ultimate choice to believe our Good God and what he said, or to succumb to deceitful suspicions was first presented to Adam and Eve - and has continued with us. Our choices have consequences and we own our choices. We are hopeless without Jesus Christ.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph 2:8-10).

When we remember the foundations:

• we understand how we got here and what we should be doing
• we understand that sin is a serious problem that we can't resolve on our own. Jesus is so much more than an addition to our portfolio
• we can be confident when questioned, made fun of, or even persecuted for our faith in God
• our influence will be felt not only at the church building, but in every activity of our lives.

It is my prayer that the studies and projects in Genesis for Mid-West Leadership Training for Christ helps us remember the foundations of our faith. It is also my prayer that the confidence in God's Word will influence many one step closer to Jesus.