Mother Teresa was canonized on September 4, 2016 by Pope Francis

Pope John Paul 11 on April 27 2014

At his Angelus audience on November 1, Pope Francis said that the feast of All Saints is a
reminder that the end of our earthly existence is not death, but rather paradise!
The Pope reminded the crowd in St. Peters Square that the saints are not supermen, nor were
they born perfect. They are like us. What distinguishes the saints, he said, is that when they
knew God's love, they followed him with all their heart, without conditions or hypocrisy.
The saints never hated, the Pope continued. Hate does not come from God, but from the
devil! And the Saints distanced themselves from the devil.
Returning to his central theme, the Pope emphasized that sanctity is not an unattainable goal.
All of us, in baptism, receive the inheritance of being able to become saints. Saintliness is a
vocation for all.
The Kingdom of Heaven, the Pope said, is for those who do not base their security in material
things, but rather in the love of God. Jesus shows this path to sanctity in the beatitudes, he said,
and the witness of the saints teaches us to trust in the Lord, because the Lord never
disappoints.

The apostles wanted the same thing many of us desire today.

We find in Luke 17:5 that the apostles asked something of Jesus. "Increase our faith." They felt
that if they had more faith, they could do what Jesus did.
So they decided to go the easy route and ask Jesus to increase their faith.
What better person to ask! Jesus was full of faithjust look at all He did! Nothingor no one
not even Satan stood in His way.
He just spoke a word with such assurance and authority that what He said would be done!

Jesus knew what lies Satan told and how he tried to deceive people. Jesus also knew the truth
Satan had no power whatsoever. God backed Jesus upevery time!
Now, back to the apostles. When they asked Jesus to increase their faith, His response shocked
them. He told them they didnt need a large amount of faith. A mustard seed size would do!
Well OK they thought, Jesus wont increase our faith. But how do we get mustard seed size
faith?
I feel positive that many of them went out in the next few days to check out the size of a mustard
seed!
Take a look at a mustard seed. So tiny, isnt it? You can barely feel it, it is so small. If you
dont have a mustard seed, then look at a point on the end of a pencil. Thats about the size of a
mustard seed.
Now, imagine what a mountain looks like. It is Huge!
In mans eyes mustard seed faith could never remove this mountain. But God backs up His
promises to us.
God is so simpleHe will not make things difficult for us, or make something out of our reach.
Matthew 17:20 says, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can
say to this mountain, Move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for
you.
Mark 9:23 says everything is possible for him who believes.
Mark 10:27 says that all things are possible for God.
So, how do we obtain Mustard Seed Faith?
God gives us the measure of faith (Romans 12:3).
OK so now we have mustard size seed faith. What do we do with it? How do we use it?
When we are praying for others or ourselves:
1. We need to get our minds off ourselves, off the other person, off the situation and focus
completely on God. We need to see what Jesus has already done for us by His stripes and
the cross, and look to the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus says trust in Him, He tells us so many times, "I tell you the truth," He watches over His
Word to perform it.

2. Focus on building your own faith. The gift God gives you is enough, but you can build
upon what you have.
Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
Gods Word is Truth; you build your faith by getting the truth into your heart.
You cant read or hear the Word then put it on a bookshelf. What happens when you do that?
Well, what happens when you quit exercising and eating too much? You gain weight and loose
your muscle. What happens when you dont focus on giving in your marriage and focus on the
getting part? The marriage suffers. What happens when you let you garden go? The weeds come
in and overtake the plants. The same thing happens when you stay out of the Word. You forget
what the Word says and how to apply it to situations in your life.
So by reading the Word of God is how you increase your faith. Keep in the Word, by
reading, listening to tapes, listening to others teach and preach until the Word is in your
heart and you live, breathe, speak, walk and act on Gods Word at all times.
It is not (even remotely) in our own power that any one is healed. We are just a vessel that God
can use. If you are a willing vessel then God will use you.
Jesus already paid the price for our healing 2000 years ago. (1 Pet. 2:24. by His wounds or
stripes you were healed.)
Galatians 3:13 says that you and I have been redeemed from the curse of the law. Redeemed
means to be bought back. The blood of Jesus did this!
Jesus said that He came to destroy the works of the devil, and He did! Jesus or God doesnt
make you sick, thats one of the (gifts) of the devil! Id rather have Gods gifts: healing,
salvation, redemption, peace and freedom.
When you lay hands on people and it doesnt "seem evident" that you are operating in the gift of
healings or miracles, thats OK. Keep laying hands on people anyway.
Mark 16:18 says that if you believe you can lay hands on the sick and the sick will be made well.
Healing is a sign following you when you obey God and lay hands on the people.
3. Keep a close fellowship with God. Keep teaching others what God says about healing.
Keep combining your faith with the faith of others. Keep doing what God tells you that you
can do!
Mark 11:23-24 a prayer of faith. Now notice in verse 22 that it says "Have faith in God." This is
where it all begins. The words I want you to focus on here are say, do not doubt, and believe
what God says, ask and believe you receive. So when you pray you need to say the Word, talk
the Word and act on the Word.

Hebrew 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God, because everyone who comes
to Him must believe.

To Remember: Faith is trust in God

Lesson To have faith is to believe in something; to trust that it is
so. Some people believe everything they are told. Others require
proof for everything. Most people cannot have faith in something
unless they know something about it. That is why God has always
provided man with lots of proof of his existence and his love - so
we can easily believe it and have faith in him.
Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God. (KJV)
We believe in God for many reasons: because we can see the
incredible creation all around us, because he has provided witnesses
to testify of him, because we see him working in the lives of those
around us, and in our lives. God has never asked us to have a "blind
faith" or a faith with no basis. It would be silly to believe in
something you have absolutely NO evidence of. God has given his
people many reasons to believe in him and his promises.
John 20:31 But these are written so that you may come to believe
that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through
believing you may have life in his name.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the
conviction of things not seen. (NRSV)
Do you believe that Australia exists? Have you ever been there? I
have not seen Australia with my own eyes, but I have seen pictures
of it. I have spoken to people from Australia. Many reputable people
agree that it is there. Based on these evidences, I have no reason to
doubt that there is a continent named Australia on the other side of
the world. We may not see God himself in this life, but there is
evidence all around that he exists, and that he keeps his
promises.This is not to say that we will always understand
everything about God. We can't.
Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts; nor are your
ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than
your thoughts.
But - we can know that God always tells us the truth, and that his
promises will always be fulfilled.
Titus 1:2 in the hope of eternal life that God, who never lies,
promised before the ages began. (NRSV)

partner-pub-1130
FORID:9
ISO-8859-1

Search

SING: This is my father's world or He's got the whole world in his
hands
Activity:

For older kids: have students list the evidence that supports
their belief that:
o their parents love them
o gravity will work tomorrow
o Jesus loves me

For younger kids: (but not preschoolers)

o Make a worksheet (use clipart or cut pictures from
magazines) that has real and imaginary things. Have
children circle the objects they believe in.
(Alternatively, make a list of real and imaginary
things and have them state which is which, or have
them cut pictures from magazines showing both real
and imaginary items.

True or False
1. Faith means to believe. T
2. It's ok to belief in things you have no proof of. F
3. We believe in God because he has proven himself to us. T
4. We can understand everything about God. F
5. Everything God promises will happen. T
Activities

Memory Work
o Hebrews 11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to
please God, for whoever would approach him must
believe that he exists and that he rewards those who
seek him."

o 2 Tim. 1:12 "...But I am not ashamed, for I know the

one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that
he is able to guard until that day what I have
entrusted to him."

Worksheet: Tust in God, Faith Cryptogram, Faith Crossword

Questions for Review or use with gameboard

linguistic questions

1. What are two words that are similar to faith? trust, belief
2. Cite the memory verse.
3. Describe to your classmates something (place, one) you
have seen and they haven't.
activity questions

1. Draw something you believe in that you can't see.

2. Play a quick round of 20 questions where the student thinks
of something and the other have to guess what it is.
emotion questions

1. Describe how it feels to NOT trust someone.

2. How would you feel if someone refused to believe that you
existed?
application questions

1. Does God expect us to have reasons for believing in him?

2. Should we expect others to believe in God just cause we say

so?
fact questions

1. Name two evidences that God exists.

2. Why did Jesus perform miracles?
review questions

1. Why did Noah build the ark?

2. Why did the apostles write down what they knew about
Jesus?

Privacy Notice: Information you share on this site will not be sold, shared or otherwise given to any third party. home | top
Copyright: SundaySchoolSources.com 2000- 2016 Papyrus Document & Design, LLC All rights reserved. Read our usage terms.
Advertisements: Some of these ads are randomly generated. If you see an inappropriate ad, please contact me WITH THE URL so I can block the ad.
Our ad policy

.
.