Faith
17 July 2026
Faith, Hope and Love are sometimes described as the inseparable pillars of our Christian life.
Recently, a colleague and I were talking about faith. In our long experience in ministry, it seemed to us that faith comes easily for some folk, while other people really struggle with faith. It can make them feel like a failure, rather than encourage and build confident assurance. They feel as though they don’t have enough faith.
Some Christian teaching has given millions of believers a very distorted understanding of both God and faith. This may happen when we imagine faith as some form of currency. If a person has enough faith, God will do what they want or desire. But God is not a divine vending machine dispensing desired outcomes in exchange for the right amount of faith currency.
In Matthew 17, verse 20, Jesus says “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.
What does it mean to have faith like a mustard seed? Is it just the tiniest bit (a few cents worth) of faith? I don’t think so.
Jesus talked about mustard seeds on other occasions, saying that even though the mustard seed is the smallest seed, it can grow into the biggest plant in the garden. Mustard seeds are small, but they possess the capacity for tremendous growth.
Faith is not a commodity or a currency - it’s not a coin to operate a vending machine. Faith is organic, living and capable of growth.
Faith is like a seed, not a coin. Faith helps us become. Faith is not about meeting our desires and wants.
The Bible describes Abraham as “The Father of all who have faith”. For Abraham, faith was not an abstract concept, but the orientation of his soul towards God. Faith was how he lived his life in relationships with the invisible God and saw impossible promises come to pass over the course of a lifetime. (Mountains moving).
Abraham did not become the Father of Faith by accumulating a currency of faith, rather faith grew in Abraham’s life until it was the most dominant reality in the garden of his soul.
Do you struggle with faith? Do you feel that it is impossible for you to become the kind of person whose life is defined by faith, hope and love?
We invite you to journey with us at Evans Road Community Church where we endeavour to keep our soul oriented toward God, giving faith, time and space to grow. Having confident trust in God and His promises, even when circumstances are uncertain, we believe that eventually we will become what we once thought was impossible.
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” Hebrews 11, verse 1.
The Very Reverend Ray Coster