Old Testament

Psalms

Proverbs

Gospel

Epistals

Psa 10:5-18

Prov 5:15-23

Mat 8:1-13

Acts 7:17-43

Mat 8:10, “When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”

Dear brothers and sisters,

Loving greetings in the name of our lord Jesus Christ. Today let us see something about the faith which we have on God. Since the bible says without faith we cannot please God as in Heb 11:6. Twice our lord used the word “Great Faith” let us see what great faith is all about and why it is appreciated by our lord. This man who came to Jesus in Capernaum was a centurion that means he was a leader over one hundred soldiers. In his daily experience, he could make all the soldiers to obey what he commands because of the authority he had. So, he knew the value and the power in authority. When he heard about Lord Jesus Christ, he came to him seeking for help for his servant who was terribly suffering because of a paralytic attack. Seeing his concern for his servant Jesus immediately got ready to go to his house as in Mat 8:7, “Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him." But the centurion felt, it is not needed that Jesus must come in person to his house to heal his servant. So, he refused to take Jesus to his home for two reasons first of all, he felt that he is not worthy to take the lord to his home. Secondly, he felt Jesus need not to come in person because he believed even one word of Jesus can bring a healing as in Mat 8:8, “The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” This is what made Jesus to say he has the great faith. That means he believed God has the authority to heal the person from where ever he is.

Jesus told to the disciple Thomas, those who believe him without seeing him are the blessed people as in John 20:29, “Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." When we have no faith on God we will fear as in Mark 4:40, “He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

Another time, a Canaanite woman came to Jesus requesting for the deliverance of her daughter who had a demon-possession as in Mat 15:22, “A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession." Jesus did not yield to her request but said he cannot give the children’s bread to the dogs. She did not take it as an insult and went away but she immediately humbled herself and said, “yes lord, but as the dogs can eat the crumbs falling from the table give me mercy as in Mat 15:27, "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Because she believed even the little crumbs can bring a perfect deliverance. So, Jesus here also told this word “great faith” because she felt even the crumbs are enough for her daughter’s deliverance as in Mat 15:28, “Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.”

May the lord help each one of us today to have similar faith on Him and His word so that we will also believe for a miracle and may not doubt the greatness and the authority of God. Only doubts bring fear in our minds. Amen.

Your Web-Site Pastor,
Rev. Dr. T. Marcus Devasahayam

Web-site: www.barodabibleclub.org e-mail: marcusbbc@yahoo.com Mobile: 91-9327243600 ,Church 3096882 / 5540651.
Res : 3, 2nd floor, Arpita Complex, Priyalaxmi Mills Road, Vadodara – 390003, Gujarat, India, Phone:91-265-2335651.

Prov 5:21, “For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths.”

Psa 10:17 You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,

Luke 7:3 to 10, “The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.
Luke 7:4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, "This man deserves to have you do this,
Luke 7:5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue."
Luke 7:6 So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.
Luke 7:7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.
Luke 7:8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."
Luke 7:9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel."
Luke 7:10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

Africa

1 The peaceful ending of apartheid in South Africa and transition to multi-racial democratic government was considered impossible
2 In the 20th Century, Christianity became the religion of the majority in sub-Saharan Africa
3 The growth of Evangelicals has been even more spectacular
4 Remarkable revival movements have blessed the Church — in East Africa in the 1940s — ‘60s, and more recently in Ethiopia which resulted in massive church growth
5 The work of evangelical missions has been blessed by God with much fruit
6 A new sense of strongly evangelical Third Wave Pentecostal denominations have emerged over the past 30 years
7 Countries which experienced exceptional evangelical growth during the 1990s
8 The impact of the gospel on the educated
9 A vision for saturation church planting has grown
10 Mission vision. This has grown, and the number of African missionaries and agencies is steadily increasing