Guest speaker Yan Hadley spoke at GPCC tonight on the subject of ‘the transforming power of overcoming faith.’ All of us have things we need to overcome; many of the situations faced by Jesus were very difficult (a man whose son was demon-possessed or a friend who had died), but through faith, healing, restoration and resurrection occurred. Moses only had a stick, but God was with him to accomplish amazing things; what matters is not the vessel, but what is inside it (see 2 Cor 4:7, 1 John 4:4). Jesus can change our lives, coming to live within us and transform us.
There are different kinds of faith:
1. Dormant faith, where people are risk-averse and avoid moving with God, perhaps because of previous disappointment
2. Divided faith, where doubt is mixed in with faith, perhaps where there are particular areas which stretch us (see Mark 9:17-24)
3. Diverted faith, where our faith is distracted or we believe fears and circumstances more than we believe God
4. Dynamic faith, the type of faith which overcomes as we realise what God can do and focus single-mindedly on God
When faith is in action, we see the invisible become visible (see 2 Kings 6:17). Overcoming faith is like a muscle; it needs to be used or it will waste away. When God speaks, are we listening? Bartimaeus shouted out to Jesus in faith and Jesus responded to His call. He saw his faith and responded. We will see Jesus respond when we call to Him in faith – but what kind of faith will we have?