I believe…

Text: Mark 9:14-29

Intro

When you are very young, the issues about what you believe in are very different, from when you are older.
How many of you remember the questions:
‘Do you believe in Santa Claus...the Loch Ness Monster...ghosts?’
When you are older the issues concerning what you believe in, are far more important for your life and your future:
‘Do you believe in God...do you believe in Jesus…forgiveness…heaven and hell...life after death’

Can you think about major issues affecting you which are influenced by what you believe?

What would you say is the difference between what you believe and what you know? Would you say that there is an element of uncertainty about what you believe compared with the definite conviction of those things that you know?
Does that sense of a partial grasp of what you believe, necessarily mean that those things are less real than what you know, or is it simply a recognition of our limited comprehension of reality, as human beings?
What sense, then, do you make of Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 1:12, ’I know whom I have believed.’?

Share

What about your belief in God? How did it take shape? How has it developed?
How strong is that belief, how well informed and detailed is that belief? Could you echo Paul’s statement that we just considered? How does that belief show itself in the way that you deal with problems and issues in your everyday life?

Imagine

(Read Mark 9:14-20)
We have all come across crowds of heated, argumentative people. But have you ever come across a crowd like this? Imagine approaching it, alongside Jesus:
What are they arguing about?
What was the issue for the teachers of the law….the disciples…..the father…..the boy ?

What does Jesus put the failure to deal with the problem down to, according to v 19?
Do you think that would have come as a surprise to all those concerned? Think of areas in your life at this moment, where you are experiencing a lack of victory or breakthrough, how would you react to the Lord saying that this was your problem as well?

Consider

What is the difference between belief about Jesus, belief about the power of prayer, and belief that really makes a difference to our lives and our future?

In Greek, the verb, ’to believe’, is pisteuo, which literally means, ’I believe into’, which conveys the idea that belief is a trustful commitment in the person of the Lord, rather than in the power or promises of the Lord in themselves.

Why is this so important? It perhaps explains why the Apostles’Creed, formulated by the Church in the second century to express the essence of the apostles’ teaching in the Bible, at a time when so many were illiterate and did not have access to the scriptures, begins with the singular statement, ’I believe..’
This is the vital point:
Christian faith is not about what the Church teaches, nor even about what the Bible says, nor about what the family you have been brought up in maintains, it is about what you have come to believe in response to that.
Christian faith requires that you can say, ’I believe..’, in response to Jesus and the truth of the Word of God.

Act

Do you feel that you are a failure when it comes to really showing reliance on God in your life, and in the difficult situations we all face?

(Read Mark 9:21-29)
Learn from the example of the boy’s father in this healing:

What does the Father express in v 22 when it comes to putting belief in Jesus to help in this situation?
Why do you think the father may have arrived at this point in regard to trust?
What do you think was Jesus’ tone in the answer that he gave to the father?
How do you react to promises like v23 ? (cf Luke 1:37)

What does the father do with his bruised and battered faith? (v24)
In what ways does he accentuate the positive, and deal with the negative, when it comes putting trust in the Lord?
Can we learn from this example in our lives?

How does this story illustrate the truth of the opening words of the Apostles’ Creed, ’I believe in God..’?

Perhaps, like the father in the story, we do not have a fully developed theology about Jesus being God incarnate, nor a fully formed grasp of the power of prayer to change situations and lives, but in what ways do you feel this story encourages us to believe with the little faith we have, that Jesus is able to be trusted with our lives and difficult situations?

Trust him, when darkest thoughts assail thee,
Trust him, when thy faith is small,
Trust him, when to simply trust Him,
Seems the hardest thing of all.

Can you make this your prayer?

‘Lord, I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief’