* Show Me Your Faith **

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts.

Morse Corner is a non -denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist

D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message.

I think we're at a stage where we pretty much know the right things and we believe the right things. So now it's just about doing the right things.

And don't miss this, we need each other. We need each other to keep each other accountable.

If somebody is off by themselves alone, you've heard this illustration probably, you have a fire and in the fire there's coals, right?

And the fire's burning and it's hot, but if you take one coal and you remove it from the fire and put it off by itself, what happens?

As long as it's with the other coals, it stays hot, it's burning, but if you take a coal and remove it, it's by itself, it starts to cool down, eventually the fire goes out.

We need each other for accountability of if nothing else.

And here's another thing we need to do based on James chapter 2, we need to show people our faith.

Again, as far as I know, everybody professes faith in Jesus. Now it's about showing people our faith.

Look at James chapter 2 starting in verse 14, the apostle writes, what does it profit my brethren if someone says he has faith but does not have works?

Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food and one of you says to them, depart in peace and be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?

Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, what is it?

It's dead. Another way you could say it's not real, it's not real, but someone will say you have faith and I have works, show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works.

And that's the verse I want to hone in on, show me your faith. How about this, show

God, show God your faith and also show others, show unbelievers, show the community, show your family members, show your co -workers, show them your faith.

You know if you tell them that you're a Christian but you don't show it, what are they going to think? Well they're going to think you're a hypocrite and they already think that about Christians anyways, so you're just reinforcing that idea.

They have to see that it's real and kids especially need to see that it's real.

So I will show you my faith, how? By my works.

See, it's not enough to come to a building for an hour a week and just, yep, we believe the right things and we're here.

That's not enough, that's not enough. What do we need to do? We need to go out and show people our faith.

What did Jesus say? If they see it, they will glorify your Father in heaven. You know, people don't take you seriously if your actions don't line up with your words.

So what are some ways we can do that? Okay, here's where the rubber meets the road.

What are some ways we can show people our faith? Well, you can visit somebody in the hospital, you can visit someone in a nursing home if they're sick, you can bring someone a meal after they've had surgery, you can pray with them, read them some scripture.

Maybe there's someone you haven't seen in church in a while and you can just just call them and say, hey, you know, we miss you and how are you doing?

You can do that. Now, if you make an attempt and you reach out to somebody, maybe it's someone at work who doesn't believe you're trying to reach them for Christ, if you reach out to somebody and they're not receptive and it seems like you're bothering them, hey, you know, move along.

Jesus talked about shake the dust off your feet, go to the next town. Take that time and that energy and invest it in someone else.

Eventually, you will come to someone who is willing to receive it. So reach out to people, talk to people, do things for people.

If they're just, if they're not interested, okay, that's their choice. Move on to someone who, there's some guy out there is interested, there's just nobody there telling them or nobody doing anything for them.

You can mow your elderly neighbor's lawn. You can be a friend to someone and invite them to church and take them out to lunch afterwards.

If you're in a position to help someone financially, you can do that and do it in Jesus name.

Our church serves free meals to people in the community. We've been doing it for 10, 15, 20 years.

Why do we do that? Well, the whole point is it's supposed to be an outreach. Invite someone, bring them in, they might hear the gospel.

Now we're having a monthly dinner and hopefully, you know, it's a way to reach out to people.

You know, people aren't real excited about coming in and hearing a sermon or people, hopefully you are, you know, but you know, people on the outside aren't itching to get in here and hear a sermon.

They will come for a meal though. Some of them at least. What does

James say? I will show you my faith by my works.

But we can't expect people to come to us. We need to go out to them and it's not just us pushing our views on someone else.

Sometimes that's what it turns into. It's not about me and what I think and I'm trying to get this guy to think just the same way that I think.

Obviously, we want them to believe the gospel, but our deeds need to be there.

Our works need to be there. It's more than just an intellectual belief.

They need to see that it's real for me and they need to see that it's real for you.

All right, let's turn to Matthew chapter five. First Peter 3 .15

says that we need to always be ready to give an answer. So always be ready for that turn in the conversation to a spiritual direction.

You know, don't force it. If somebody gets mad or they don't respond, fine.

Again, move on. There will be those people that never come around. That's just the way it is and there will be people who will never give us a fair shake.

There are some people, they just don't like Christians and you're never going to be able or I'll never be able to reach them.

Here's one thing I have noticed throughout the years. There will be people that I can never reach for whatever reason.

I'm a preacher. They heard me say something. They're just never going to listen to me. Maybe I can't reach them, but you can.

You can. So there's plenty of things you can do.

Here's what we don't want to do. Just come once a week and just kind of reinforce each other's ideas and just feel at ease because yeah, we're all here and we all kind of believe the same things and good enough.

That's not good enough. We need to what? Show people our faith and that happens

Monday through Saturday. All right, look at Matthew 5, 13.

Here's what Jesus says. You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?

It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

So salt not only gives flavor, salt is a preserving agent. Matthew Henry, who's a commentator of the

Bible, he says about verse 13, if a man can take up the profession of Christ and yet remain graceless, no other doctrine, no other means can make him profitable.

So our profession, saying we believe, it has to impact the way we live.

Oh, you believe, you have faith, you say you believe. Well, that's great, James 2, 19.

Even the demons believe and tremble. What does James say? Show me, show me your faith.

Think about it for a moment. This nation has the high, still, this is still true. This nation has the highest percentage of evangelical

Christians anywhere on earth. You wouldn't know that by living in Massachusetts, but it's still true.

The highest percentage of evangelical Christians, more than any other nation.

So if we're supposed to be salt and we're supposed to preserve what is good, we're a preserving agent and we are supposed to restrain evil in this nation.

If our nation is getting more and more godless, what does that say?

We're either not doing it or whatever we're doing is not working. In general,

Christians in the United States have not been acting as salt. Look at verse 14.

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but put it on a lampstand and it gives light to all who are in the house.

You know, this sermon doesn't apply to everybody here. Some of you, you are salt, you are acting as light.

This doesn't really apply to you. You're busy, you're showing people your faith, and then some people it does apply to.

Okay, the people that it doesn't apply to, help those where it does apply.

Come alongside of them, encourage them, help instruct them. We need each other.

No one can do it alone. I thank God for the people who have come alongside me and given me opportunities and have encouraged me and the

Lord, because without them, where would I be? If left to my own devices, who knows?

I have an idea where I'd be, and I have an idea of where I would go after I die.

So thank God for the people who invest in others. That can be you with someone else.

Now we're just about out of time, but this this is the mission, right? To make disciples, and a lot of people have done that.

That's something that I think the church has done. We've really dropped the ball with discipleship.

When does discipleship happen? For this church, it's three times a week,

Sunday morning, Sunday school, the worship service, and then Wednesday evening.

And then those other times during the week, you know, being attached to a small

Bible study or a small group. Let me just encourage you, if you don't do anything during the week, you don't have a group of Christians you get together with, you're sitting in a large group right here.

It's hard to get to know people when there's just so many people, right? But a small group, a

Bible study, you can have that time one -on -one. You can get to know people, and those things are so valuable.

So consider joining a Bible study or a small group, and just getting to know other people, and finding those opportunities to serve.

But again, this is the problem. This is the diagnosis. This is where we've kind of failed, and it's happening everywhere.

And I don't know about you, I want to see it fixed, because I love the church. I love

Jesus Christ. I love his church, and that means I love you. Do you love me?

Well, if you love me at all, then heed my message. But it's not really my message, is it?

It's the Lord's message. We'll just close with this, Matthew 5, 16. Jesus said, let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your

Father in heaven. Thanks for listening.

I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website,

MorrisCornickChurch .com. And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.