Faith=)

Going back to the verse i start with...

1 Cor13:13
and now abide in faith hope and love; but the greatest of all is love

Faith appears in the bible around 243 times in the bible. You'd heard from Pastor Kong that God response to faith.So what does the bible says about faith?

Romans 10:17
Faith comes by hearing and hearing of the Word

Hebrew 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him

Matthew 17:20
So Jesus said to them,'' Because of your unbelief; for assurely, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible with you.

Ephesians 3:20
Now to him is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think, According to the power that work in us (Faith in us towards God)

Of course God loves us to be having a 'nothing is impossible attitude' to him but do you know that God has faith in us?Let me show you the chapter and verse =)

Mattew 16:18
And I say to you that you are peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it.

This verse clearly shown that Jesus who is 100% man and 100% God say to his disciple Peter that he has faith in him because no devil can be against him as he build his church. This word is not in the bible by coincident. However, Jesus spoke to peter (on this rock). Hence it is important that God build his church on a solid foundation as he has faith in us. Zhan Rong, God has faith in you not just passing you chinese but you can scorce an A1 even. God has faith in this cell group that it will surely grow!But remeber....

James 2:20
But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without work is dead?

So we must mix our faith with work at the same time=)

Speaking about faith, let me ask you a question: Who is your favourite teacher of all time? Think back through all your years in school from kindergarten ti your recent education. Who stands out? Is there a teacher who changed your life? Most of us have one. Mine was actually my primary four and five teacher named Mr Andrew leong and Mr faisal.

What make that teacher different? Was it subject knowledge? Was it teaching technique? Though your teacher possessed great knowledge and mastered outstanding techniquem I'm willing to bet that what seperates that teacher was that he/she saw mw as a 10 out of a 10. In other words, have faith in me. The teacher who threaten you and tells you how ignorant or in undisciplined you are isn't the one who inspires you to learn and grow.It's the one who think you're wonderful and tells you so. I like maths a lot. I like maths a lot. Even though there was a period I grew to hate studies, I still love maths. Why?

The journey started way back where I was in kindergarten .I aced nothing but just maths only and my family never fail to encourage me about how good I am. My primary four and five teacher never fail to reward me when i aced it. They have faith in me doing well in maths!

What I am trying to say is Faith edifys and encourage people. Instead of saying a person cannot achieve what he is trying to why dun you reassure him that he can do it? In cell group , why don't we start having faith in each other. A place of agreement is a place of ower, isn't it?

In conclusion,

Ephesians 6:16
above all taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all fiery darts of the wicked one.

Faith is a shield. As youth praying warriors, we need to pick up our shield of faith not just to defend ourself but also protecting others with our shield of faith.Of course god's shield of faith is watching over us. In the mean time, let us abide(live in) Faith, Hope and Love ^^

-David