FAITH POWER POINT COMPETITION

BR. SARATH THOMAS CHAMAKALAYILsarathcthomas@gmail.com

INTRODUCTIONWithout faith it's impossible to please God (Heb.

11:6), so our relationship with the Lord is dependent on it. Faith is what brings the things God has provided for us from the spiritual realm into the physical realm (Heb. 11:1).

Our faith is the victory that enables us to overcome the world (1 John 5:4). Everything the Lord does for us is accessed through faith. Yet there is much confusion about faith today just as there has always been

TRANSFORMATION OF FAITH IN MODERNITY

•Modernity: unbelievable progress in the field of science, geology, psychology and biology. •An older way of looking at world and understanding the realities are perishing. In its place a new out look is taking its origin.it demands to master the world by reason. The greatest empire of the modern mind.

Every thing in the world is assessed by reason. Faith, supernatural beliefs etc are always put into question. Reaction against God became the hallmark of an intelligent person.

• Some revolutionary teachings and ideas have emerged , there faith has been reduced to a mere trifle..

Abanding faith In God is the first step to enjoy life.there is no life to come , only a life in the present, which we must enjoy as much as possible . So eat ,drink and make merry.

The priest has simply invented his God to as a means of legitimising his own passions and suppressing those of others. “ There is no need for a priest, every one is a priest. On the pre test of helping people to get heaven , the priests and the bishops makes the people’s life miserable.” Voltaire.

Secularization and radicalization became necessary to asses religious notions. Faith became just remains a question mark.

The masters of modernity believed in human reason’s power to combat ignorance, superstition and tyranny to build a better world.

we maintain a world view that the world is an unfinished existence or it is

something in the process of development

“Religion is the projection of the human needs, and the

expression of the uttered sorrow of the soul”. Feuerbach

“We invent God in order to explain the unexplainable”.

Sartre

Religion is only a human invention to explain the puzzling aspects of nature. Religion corrupts people by forcing to contemplate its irrational absurdities.

WHERE EXISTS THE FREQUENCY OF OUR FAITH….??

“The most significant predicament of the modernity is the disappearance of transcendence.”

Dupre

THE QUESTION RAISES HERE………The previous slides just stated only some of the arguments of this modern world. It is the period of development and liberalisation. So these ideas will be inculcated even by children.So are we able to make people conscious about it.?Are we able to defend these arguments and propagate reasonably our faith ?

WHAT IS NEEDED HERE………If we cant answer to these questions our vocation will remain as a question in front of the modern people. We should not neglect the fact that the faith in God is diminishing day by day from the minds of the people.

So here NEEDS an intellectual earth quake in our life and also in the church as comparable to the life of the copernican revolution.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FAITH “There is a two fold order of knowledge, and with regard to the source, we know in one by natural reason, the other by divine faith.” Vatican council-IFaith is not a departmental affair. And It is not just an emotional feeling. but It is an expression of the whole man

WHY IS FAITH SO IMPORTANT FOR CHRISTIANS?

• Faith is the cornerstone of all Christians. It is how the disciples were able to preach and change the world.

• Faith is the source of a Christian's strength and places them in God's plan for mankind.

• Through faith Christians anticipate the future of God's promises and act in faith in their day-to-day activity knowing they are in God's plan.When Christians act out on their faith, it is the evidence of things not seen

Without Christian faith there is no substance, no purpose, or strength in a person's life. People may have faith in other gods, themselves, or material things, but this type of faith is temporal and does not rely upon God's truth.• Without faith in Jesus Christ, all is vanity with no purpose or hope. • Jesus Christ came on this Earth to offer faith to all of mankind that

everyone can be part of God's plan for eternal life and meaningful existence.

• Faith allows Christians to rise above earthly experience and participate in God's plan

The word faith is used only two times in the Old Testament (Habakuk 2:4, Deuteronomy 32:20) and 243 times in the New Testament. This in itself is a sign of the moving away from living under the law in the Old Testament, to living by faith in the New Testament.In Hebrews 11:6 Paul tells us: But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. If, without faith, it is impossible to please God, it would be a desperate panic to live a lifetime waiting for the promise of salvation after death and at the last moment to doubt, having never seen the word of faith in action during our lifetime

STEPS TO IMPROVE IN FAITH"I tell you, if anyone believes in Me, he will do the [kind of] things that I do; and greater things he will do, because I go to the Father."(John 14:12)

1. Feed your faith: receive a measure of faith from God, through receiving the Word of God -- by studying the Bible. According to Romans 10:17, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

2. Be born again as a believer by repentance (turning around) and continuing in Christ, so that you will receive within you a measure of faith and the Spirit of God.

3. Love your brother. How can you love God whom you have not seen -- if you cannot love your brother whom you have seen. God will reveal Himself to you through His people, His love, through His son, His Word, and by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. Galatians 5:6 says that faith works by love4. Having faith to move problems as mountains is simply trusting God to keep His Word. Believe that God cannot lie.

5. Fellowship with Him and as this develops you will come to agree with those who trust God. For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."(Matthew 18:20)6. Cultivate your faith by giving Him the opportunity to reveal Himself to you.

7. Act on your faith Faith is expressed by actions not just thoughts and words. Never stop meditating on these teachings. “You must think about them night and day so that you will faithfully do what is in them. Only then will you prosper and succeed." (Joshua 1:8).Notice in Mark 9:23 that Jesus said that all things are possible to him that believes. "To believe" is a verb that requires action. If no action were necessary, Jesus would have said, "All things are possible to him that has faith.8. Think on the Word of God That meditation on the Word then reveals how to act upon the Word. Your confessing, testifying of the Word and things of God is part of that prayer and meditation

8. Build your faith by saying one thing and thinking that same thing and acting it out honestly, not by just pretending. 'We become what we think about.'“9. Edify yourself through faith which is also developed through praying in the language of the spirit (Jude 20)10. Spend time each day, praying and meditating in the Word in your native language and also in other tongues, and you can keep your spirit active instead of being passive. Scriptures say: "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost." Jude 1:20

9.Let God inhabit your meditations and praises and grow in your being. Meditating on the Word and agreeing together can cause you to be able to believe God's Word enough to act upon it in faith.10. Refuse to accept doubt. Begin to praise God when negative thinking comes to your mind then replace that with praising God. If you do believe Him, then you will have plenty of praise for Him. He lives in and through His people who believe Him: " God inhabits the praises of Israel [his people, the believers who do His will]

11. Investigate why God inhabits the praises of His people: It was an honour to God, that the tabernacle tent made way for the temple of stone, but now He is within you.So, the tabernacle makes way for the faithful spirit as God's favoured dwelling.12.Follow Jesus by faith into the active nature of Christ in the chosen and anointed life, way and the truth: so the redeemed, contrite, faithful human spirit may represent his favoured temple that He wants to inhabit.

CONCLUSIONRemember our God is not simply an empirical hypothesis that can be checked out by scientific reason. We are really created to be with God in faith. If that relationship is absent, we will experience an existential vacuum.so we can pray together with St. Augustine “ God you have made us for yourself and our heart is restless until it find rest in you.”