We walk by faith and not by sight.
No gracious words we hear
From Christ who spoke as none e’re spoke,
But we believe him near.

 

While Abraham never knew Christ,
he frequently heard God’s gracious words
and believed that God was ever near.

God called him and he went.
God commanded and he obeyed.
When what God was asking seemed impossible,
Abraham never doubted.
God had given him the gift of faith,
and that was enough for him.

 

We walk by faith and not by sight.
No gracious words we hear

 

Jesus spoke as none ever spoke before.
He spoke to his disciples,
to the crowds who came to him,
and to us today
words that would inspire
and touch our hearts.

 

He wasn’t the first to speak in parables,
nor was he the last.
However, the God he described
was like nothing anyone had ever heard of before.

In today’s gospel,
Jesus says that if God finds us waiting,
God will wait on us.
God will serve us.

 

People had heard of gods who demanded sacrifices
and service from their people.
But a god who serves
seems odd and almost unbelievable.

 

We walk by faith and not by sight.
No gracious words we hear

 

Yet Jesus came as one who serves.
At the Last Supper,
he washed his disciples’ feet.
He instructed them to do as he had done.
He told them,

“I have not come to be served,
but to serve,
and to give my life as a ransom for the people.”

 

Jesus worked wonders,
curing the sick, casting out demons,
feeding the hungry crowds.
And after most miracles he proclaimed,

“Your faith has saved you.”

 

He didn’t choose to glorify himself,
he chose to share God’s glory with us.

 

We walk by faith and not by sight.
No gracious words we hear.

 

I don’t know about you,
but when I was young,
I thought that I had to do something
to earn God’s love.

It seemed that people only loved me
when I was good,
when I worked hard,
when I succeeded at what others expected of me.
So, naturally I thought the same thing applied to God.
I thought that God was making a list
and checking it twice.
I thought that God was watching to see if I was naughty or nice.
I thought that it was our job to earn God’s love,
to earn God’s mercy,
to deserve salvation.

 

I believed in God,
but it was not the God we hear about today.

We walk by faith and not by sight.
No gracious words
From Christ who spoke as none e’re spoke,
But we believe him near.

 

The God we hear about today
gave Abraham the gift of faith to begin with.
Abraham didn’t believe because of what he already knew about God.

Abraham believed because of God’s amazing grace.

Abraham believed because God believed in Abraham.

God believed that Abraham was the person
God needed to carry out his plan.

God had faith, not only in Abraham,
not only in Jesus his Son,
but God has faith in each and every one of us.

God walks by faith and not by sight.

God sees who we are
and still believes that we can be part of his saving plan.

We have faith,
we walk by faith,
because God has faith in us.

 

 We walk by faith and not by sight.
No gracious words
From Christ who spoke as none e’re spoke,
But we believe him near.