Faith is Kingdom Focused
Bradon: Jon, Has your faith in me grown over the last week?
Jon: Are you still upset that I didn’t believe you bought me a car even though it ended up being a toy car?
Bradon: That’s right! I am not over it yet! So tune in to our next episode as we continue to explore the topic of faith!
Discussion Episode
Hebrews 11
About the Story
Bradon: Again, like last week, we won’t be able to read the entire thing – it is long – but rather, we will try to explore this topic in a broad stroke.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city
Hebrews 11:13-16
Bradon: As I read through this chapter, I really enjoyed the way this lays it out. It helps me imagine that the faith I have today is for much more than just today; it is pointing me towards heaven, towards my relationship with God.
Jon: In many ways, this type of faith encourages us to use it as a compass; we can be confident in our faith when directed at God, at His Kingdom, Heaven. We can see this path more clearly or confidently using the fruits we recognize along the way. As we grow in our faith, the fruit of our lives changes.
Bradon: When we speak about the fruit, we do not mean like an apple or orange – we are more speaking about the things that come out of our lives, the ripple effect from our actions. When we bear good fruit, we exhibit the fruits of the spirit and helping those things grow in other people—peace, patience, joy, faithfulness, gentleness, kindness, and self-control.
Jon: Which is really cool. The more we live into faith, which helps us lean into and grow our relationship with God, the more good fruit our lives bear. For people who do these things it brings about strength in faith and being directed at our eternal life with God.
Bradon: We mentioned last week that there are times when someone’s faith in God is based on something that they may never see. Chapter 11 in Hebrews does an excellent job at naming a bunch of these scenarios.
Jon: Our focus today will be on the fact that “Faith is Kingdom Focused.”
Application
Jon: Faith is Kindom Focused. That means that it goes beyond this world. Our faith is an everyday practice that bears fruit, even though, like in Hebrews, we may never see the full extent of the ripple effect our faith has here on earth; we recognize that each act of faith carries us toward and helps build Gods’ Kingdom.
Bradon: and faith is a journey, a continual area of growth and challenge; we won’t have it all figured out here on earth.
Jon: Exactly, we get to take stalk or notice the fruit in our lives, which helps us guide our faith or notice how we are doing. Sometimes we need adjusting; sometimes, we don’t. It’s all about being willing to follow God and His Prompts.
