Editor’s Note: This post is a follow up the sermon preached at Christ Church Los Angeles, Sunday May 4, 2025, titled “Finding Strength in Faith”
When you reach the end of the day is there exhaustion or comfort? The choice, as the recent sermon at Christ Church illuminated, lies within us. Regardless of the day's events, we hold dominion over our thoughts and our responses. This truth, though challenging, speaks volumes about the maturity of our faith.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV [5] Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; [6] in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
It's less about our impeccable performance and more about the reliable character of the One who gives us each day.
Our God is not a distant observer. He actively works within our lives, capable of calming our fears and giving peace to combat the deepest discouragement. He whispers peace into our anxieties and infuses strength into our moments of weakness. Our lives and destinies are ultimately within God's sovereign plan.
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Ephesians 1:11-12 MSG [11-12] It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
Isaiah 41:13 NIV For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
Fear is an undeniable part of our human experience. Discouragement can feel like a constant companion. Weakness is inherent in our make up. Victory, in the worldly sense, can often seem elusive. But there is strength and power in Christ. In Him, we are not merely survivors; we are “more than conquerors”.
Romans 8:31-39 NIV [31] What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? [32] He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? [33] Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. [34] Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. [35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? [36] As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” [37] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38] For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, [39] neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (emphasis mine).
Through Christ, the Holy Spirit, the very essence of the living God, resides within us, gently calming our anxieties, bolstering our fragile strength, and guiding us through each day.
God intentionally created us for a deep and abiding connection with our Creator, a relationship established by Jesus' death on the cross, tearing down the wall that was between us.
Mark 15:37-39 NIV [37] With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. [38] The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. [39] And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
Ephesians 2:14-22 NIV [14] For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, [15] by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, [16] and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. [17] He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. [18] For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. [19] Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, [20] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. [21] In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. [22] And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. (emphasis mine).
His triumph over death and darkness is our triumphant reality in Him.
2 Corinthians 2:14-15 NIV [14] But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. [15] For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
Therefore, we are not destined for a life without fear, but for a life where fear does not dictate our steps, for He is our strength.
Psalms 27:1 NIV The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?
We are lovingly invited to come as we are, with all of our imperfections and vulnerabilities.
Matthew 11:28-30 NIV [28] “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
We are to walk in intimate fellowship with Him through each day He has uniquely designed for us.
Psalms 90:12 NIV Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
I say this all the time “We are God’s masterpiece”.
Ephesians 2:9-10 NLT [9] Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. [10] For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (emphasis mine)
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