Faith Is The Victory! Series

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• I am so glad to be here today. What a blessing it is to be able to share from God’s Word with you today!

• Life is a joy, or it cane be a joy if it does not seem to be right now.

• With that said, life can have its share of downs and discouragement.

• I know there are days when you just feel so beaten down that you want to stay in the comfort and safety of your bed.

• When you feel discouraged, it can suck the joy of life right out of you.

• We are half way through the baseball season already. I feel sorry for the fans in many cities because they are already out of playoff contention. Philadelphia, The White Sox, Oakland, Colorado AND my favorite team BOSTON are all in the cellar of their respective divisions.

• What a sad time to be a fan of those teams this year, hey, even the Cubs have a chance to make the playoffs this year.

• Imagine being a player on those last place teams. In fairness, Boston is only about 6 games out.

• Going to the ballpark everyday knowing you are not going to make the playoffs, that your World Series dreams are crushed. For some teams, the dream was a fantasy in the first place. Colorado!

• When you are a Christian, you do not have to wake up knowing you are going to lose, because we play on a team with is the winning team!

• The team we play on, God’s team has already won the victory for us; we just need to live it and enjoy the victories already won for us.

• The great thing about being the God’s team is the fact that God is the one who has provided the victory for us, He hit the game winning homeruns!

• He is the winning pitcher; the Jesus came in the 9th inning to get the save!

• Today we going to see that Faith is the Victory. Through our faith, we get to experience some wonderful victories in life.

• Can you imagine being on a winning team and living like you do not even know it?

• Let’s start with verse 1!

• SLIDE #2

• 1 John 5:1 (HCSB) Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of Him.

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

Faith in Jesus gives you…

I. A victorious family.

• When we believe in Jesus, we become a part of His family!

• We are new creations in Christ! Because of what Jesus did when He came to die on the cross for our sins, we achieve a spiritual victory!

• Making a decision to want to be a part of God’s family is the most important decision you will make in your life.

• If you are not a part of God’s family through the blood of Jesus, you will not receive eternal life, the forgiveness of sins, the indwelling gift of the Holy Spirit or the wonderful blessings God wants you to have in this life also!

• In a moment we will look at what it means to believe in Jesus.

• John tells us that if we believe that Jesus is the Messiah, or the one sent from God we are born of God.

• Being born of God is a one time past act with continuing present day results.

• When you are struggling, it is good to know that because of your faith, you are a part of God’s family.

• 2 Corinthians 5:17 reminds those in Christ that they are a NEW CREATION!

• Your faith in Jesus gives you this wonderful gift! You no longer lost and dead in your sins you are child of God!

• Now, let us take a second to see what it means to believe in Jesus.

• This verse does not imply faith alone. The word belief is a figure of speech that represents all the requirements of God which are necessary prior to one becoming a child of God.

• It would encompass the issue of repentance confession and immersion. It entails being obedient to Jesus and His teachings.

• SLIDE #4

• Galatians 3:26–27 (HCSB) for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ like a garment.

• To believe means more that an intellectual exercise it involves action.

• If we believe, we will be led to do certain things like being obedient and loving others. We will look at both of these issues in a moment.