So this week we're talking about living by faith from Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.”

What is faith and why is living by faith so difficult? Here we see that the requirements of true faith are contrary to the life in our world. Faith is not blind. Faith is based on real evidence that most people reject without testing, evidence that Jesus resurrected from the dead and that there is a real God who exists, created everything, and has demonstrated love to us.

Faith taps into God's story, which is more real than the story of our natural world. God's story starts, in the beginning God, and ends with Jesus saying, I am coming quickly, and it is written in four acts. The first act is God creation where everything was good. The second act was the fall to sin and the sentence of hard work, sorrow, and death. The third act began immediately after the fall in the garden as God unfolded His plan to redeem the people He created from their sin. And the final act, pictured in Revelation, includes God recreating a new heaven and earth with restoring all. To believe in God is to live in His story where He rewards those who seek Him. Living by faith is the only way we can please God. Your Bible is a living word of the living God. No matter how many times you read it, no matter how many times you go back to it, it is the living word and those words will help change your life.

So let me finish with a prayer. God, thank you for your story. Life can wear me down and sometimes it seems like I'm stuck in the second act, hard work, sorrow, and death. So many of us are stuck there. But Lord, remind me that your story is at work. By your help, I will live in by faith in you and your story today and always. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.