A mother tucked her little girl into bed, prayed with her, and went downstairs. Soon she heard a loud 'thump'. Running upstairs, she found her daughter on the floor. 'What happened?' she asked. 'P'raps Mummy I went to sleep too near where I got in!'

Many congregations are like that. Ask 'How is your faith growing?' and they can't answer. They follow the ABC of church adherance - Attend, Believe, Contribute - but are still spiritual pigmies.

These new converts at Antioch believed. They put their faith in the Lord. This is an important idea. Let's look at it more closely.

There are two kinds of faith: fides, faith or belief that, and fiducia, faith in. Both kinds of faith are gifts from God, available to everyone (Ephesians 6:23, 2:8,9). Belief about God is necessary before we can have faith in him. So God graciously reveals himself to us in nature, history, the prophets, the community of faith, and supremely in Jesus. When we read the Bible or hear the preacher and become convinced in our minds that this God is worth entrusting one's life to, we make the big commitment and become a Christian: this time with our hearts, our wills, our whole life. Then we begin to nurture and exercise our faith to make it grow. The apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith (Luke 17:5). Jesus said 'Everything is possible to the one who has faith' (Mark 9:23).

So, in essence faith means trust; as the Sunday School anagram has it 'Forsaking All I Trust Him!' It's the essence of a relationship with someone - in this case, the Lord. Without faith it is impossible to meet, or please, God (Hebrews 11:6). It's not 'faith in faith'; it's not a 'leap into the dark'; it's not 'believing what you cannot prove'. It's faith in a faithful God. What you need to begin the Christian life is not great faith in God but faith in a great God! You don't have to have all the answers (like you don't have to know all about electricity before you switch on the light). Jesus asked a man with a withered arm to stretch it forth - the one thing he couldn't do. But with the little faith he had he tried, and the arm became well. Use the little faith you've got, not someone else's faith you haven't got.

Faith is trusting the Lord, even when we sometimes don't understand his ways. But faith doesn't mean switching off your reason. In 18th century Europe many churches had to make a fearful decision: should they instal lightning rods? Some said no, and attempted to appease the Almighty by ringing the church bells during thunderstorms (and 12 German bell-ringers died in a 33 year period). The congregation of the church of San Nazaro in Brescia, Italy, not only rejected the protection of lightning rods but also had sufficient faith in the sanctity of their church to store 100 tons of gunpowder in its vaults. In 1767 lightning struck the church and ignited the gunpowder, causing an explosion which destroyed one-sixth of the city and killed 3000 people. (Snake-handlers in rural America have died for similar silliness!). Jeremiah told the Jews not to believe they were safe simply because 'this is the Lord's Temple, this is the Lord's Temple, this is the Lord's Temple' (Jeremiah 7:1-4).

But as our faith grows, and we know the God in whom we trust is loving, and utterly faithful, we sometimes have to trust him when our 'reason' can't supply all the answers. Have you heard of the man who was mountain-climbing in the American Rockies, along a very rugged track. Suddenly he slipped, falling over a cliff. He grabbed the roots of a tree and hung there. When he got his breath back he looked down and saw an enormous drop. If he fell, he'd certainly be killed. Looking up, the cliff top was so far above him he couldn't climb back. In desperation, although he knew he was alone, he cried out 'Is anyone up there?' He was startled to hear a booming voice say 'Yes!' 'Can you help me?' 'Yes' came the response. 'What must I do?' The voice answered 'Let go!'. There was a long pause, then finally the man called out 'Is anybody else up there?'

How does faith grow? A step at a time. In my files there are about 200 stories of people who've had a strong faith. They all had these features in common: (1) Their faith grew because they had a particular view of God - a God who is always available, who loves us, who desires the best for us. So their faith is in a God who believes in us, as well as our believing in him! This God is powerful, and is the same as he ever was. So (2) they fed their faith on the stories in the Bible, reading them over and over again: if God did it for them, he'll do it for me! (3) They noted the importance of faith in the teachings of Jesus (Matthew 8:10/Luke 7:9; Matthew 9:2/Mark 2:5/Luke 5:20; Matthew 9:29; Matthew 15:28; Mark 11:22; Luke 7:50; Luke 8:25/Mark 4:35-41/Matthew 8:23-27). (4) They used the faith they had, not the faith they didn't have. And they were obedient in their use of that faith. In Luke 17 Jesus says we should forgive someone who sins against us seven times in one day! The disciples ask - resonably enough we might think - for more faith to do this. Jesus brushes off the request, saying, in effect, 'What you need isn't more faith, but using the faith you already have! Your problem isn't faith or the lack of it, but obedience!' To grow stronger, you don't need a muscle transplant, but to exercise the muscles you have! Trust and obey says the old hymn - and it's still true. (5) They think of possibilities. Just as Augustine wrote the biography of sin in four words: a thought, a form, a fascination, a fall, so faith begins with your thoughts of faith. So they 'image' possibilities, believing 'all things are possible to the one who believes'. They link their faith to a vision. (6) They verbalize this commitment to a dream - they talk to themselves! They repeat faith-formulas in their prayer and to themselves: 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13). 'Perfect love casts out fear' (1 John 4:18). (7) But they aren't off-the-planet idealists: they analyze situations; they research the whole thing; they get all the facts together; they find a need and fill it; they become consumed with this vision; they organize and plan to reach their God-inspired destiny. (8) Once they've used their minds in all these ways, they are prepared to take risks (the story of Abraham, leaving his secure home and country to ride off into the west appeals to them greatly!) (9) They follow Paul's advice in Philippians 4:8: 'Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and honourable... keep on thinking about these things.' Just as a clean engine gives more power, so a clean life is more in tune with the infinitely powerful God. (10) They feed their faith by discipline and hard work

Back to the idea of nominalism. There are many in our churches who believe God exists, but haven't really surrendered their lives to him. For them 'the faith' is a body of beliefs they affirm in the creed - 'faith about' God but not yet faith in him. The church is thus a social club with a religious flavour. It is very dangerous when such a church elects uncommitted people to high office. A church that's alive will be stretching their people's faith all the time.

How do they do that? Here are some clues; (1) How often are people other than the pastor/vicar encouraged to verbalize their commitment to Christ (in preaching, teaching adults, leading worship etc.)? (2) Does the preaching issue a clear call for commitment? (3) What happens to new converts to encourage them to grow spiritually? (4) What proportion of the Sunday attendance are in small Bible study groups? If it's less than 50% I'd be worried. (5) Similarly, what proportion of committee-members etc. If it's less than 80% you've got a problem. (6) What opportunities (other than Sunday school teaching) are offered for direct verbal evangelism? (7) How many have been motivated enough to enter Bible or theological college? (8) How many home-grown full-time missionaries has your church sent out? Can you think of some others?

Further Reading: Eddie Gibbs, Nominality, (1989).

Discuss: # How can a congregation avoid the disease of nominalism? How does your church measure up?