Marked By Faith recap -- May 21, 2012

Getting through our lesson yesterday was tough.  It's never easy to discuss potential child sacrifice.  Although it's a puzzling story, it highlights one central point--faith.  Abraham showed faith in God even though killing his son was the last thing he'd ever want to do.

The main application of this story is that God came through for Abraham in a crisis and in a way that Abraham did not anticipate.

And because of witnessing Abraham's faith, Isaac showed his faith in God later in his life.

And it didn't stop there.  Isaac passed his faith to his son, Jacob.  Jacob in turn passed his faith in God to his children, who became the 12 tribes of Israel.  The faithfulness of one man--tested, proven, and multiplied--changed the history of mankind.

Real faith often requires us to walk to the brink of trust, then take another step of obedience.

I'll leave you with a quote from N.T. Wright from the book "Small Faith, Great God":  "Christian faith--Biblical faith--isn't a matter of putting a brave face on things and trying our best.  It is a matter of looking away from ourself and seeing the world as God sees it, as it really is."

Make it a great week!

Loyally yours,

Darren Bayne

"Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching." -- Thomas Jefferson