Week 2 Faith of a Mustard Seed
Quote
“I have a mustard seed; and I’m not afraid to use it.”
Pope Benedict XVI
Passage
15 "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.
16 "I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him."
17 And Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me."
18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not drive it out?"
20 And He *said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
Matthew 17:15-20 (NASB)
Background
Quote- Pope Benedict XVI born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, on 16 April 1927 is a retired prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2005 until his resignation in 2013. Benedict's election as pope occurred in the 2005 papal conclave that followed the death of Pope John Paul II. Benedict chose to be known by the title "pope emeritus" upon his resignation.
His prolific writings generally defend traditional Catholic doctrine and values. He was originally a liberal theologian, but adopted conservative views after 1968. During his papacy, Benedict XVI advocated a return to fundamental Christian values to counter the increased secularisation of many Western countries. He views relativism's denial of objective truth, and the denial of moral truths in particular, as the central problem of the 21st century. He taught the importance of both the Catholic Church and an understanding of God's redemptive love.
Passage- The book of Matthew is a Gospel that contains Narrative History, Genealogy, Parables, Sermons, and some Prophetic Oracles. It was written by Matthew (Levi), the Disciple of Christ around 48-50 A.D. The key word in Matthew is "Kingdom" and is used 28 times.
The book of Matthew is the first of the synoptic gospels and it was written to reveal the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, the King of the Jews, from the line of David. It also was written to convince the Jews that Jesus Christ was indeed their long-awaited Messiah.
Opening Statement
Don’t ever let anyone tell you, you don’t have enough faith. They aren’t privy to the insight God has into your heart and soul. They don’t know what path God intends for you to walk, and they don’t know everything you’ve been through. Sometimes in the garden of the soul the weeds overshadow the smaller plants. It is our job to pull up those weeds, and husband the good plants so they grow and bear fruit.
Ask: Who planted the seed of your faith? Where does it come from?
Point: This is likely different for each person though some may have similar stories, events, or incidences.
Ask: Why does Jesus use the analogy of the mustard seed for faith?
Point: There are several good answers. The seed is one of the tiniest seeds representing the power faith has in even tiny amounts. Or, that small seed grows into a far larger plant representing the power it can become.
Ask: When did Jesus say the mountain would be moved?
Point: Jesus didn’t give a timeframe. God does things in His time, which is sometimes very quickly and sometimes very slowly.
Ask: When a seed is planted in a garden do we know when it will sprout, when it will mature, and when it will bear fruit?
Point: No, we do not. We know about when these things should occur but the precise timing we do not.
First Reading (1 John 3:18-20 (NASB)
Ask: What does that passage mean in context with the idea of “God’s Time?”
Point: God “…knows all things.” So God’s timing is perfect because He sees what we do not: the Big Picture of all creation, not just our little, personal slice of His creation (it isn’t our creation.)
Ask: Should we trust God’s ways and timing? Why?
Point: Second Reading (2 Samuel 22:29-31 (NASB)
Ask: God knows everything, and His ways are perfect yet still people do not trust him. Why?
Point: It is sometimes difficult to trust what we have not seen, touched, and felt for ourselves.
Third Reading (John 20:25-28 (NASB)
Ask: Still, why isn’t this passage enough sometimes?
Point: It is an eye-witness account, we are told, of people who have been over two thousand years, long dead. The secular people and the World work very hard, motivated by Satan to degrade our trust in what the Bible says happened as truth.
Ask: As faithful gardeners of the soul what can we do to reinforce Jesus’ words to Thomas?
Point: Believe and let that belief blossom into hope that fuels our faith.
Fourth Reading (Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB)
Closing Statement
The faith of a mustard seed. It can grow or it can be powerful in a tiny portion. Our garden is tended not by ourselves only, but by the Holy Spirit as well, but only when we let Him through the gate of our heart. At His direction we can identify which weeds need to be removed. At His direction we can prune the vine, so the plant is healthy. At His direction we can water and apply fertilizer. These things grow our faith spurred by our belief that His word in scripture is true. This belief then builds hope that bears the fruit of faith. Works then sprout out of the vine of our faith rooted in Jesus that can then plant, water, weed, and prune in the gardens of those who do not yet know Christ. But before we can help the Holy Spirit in the garden of the soul of another, we must first tend to our own vineyard and either clear the overgrown vines or make sure to cut them back before they obscure the plant that is our own faith.
Questions for the Week
Read the entire chapter of Jeramiah 29. Contemplate, study, and write your thoughts about that chapter before proceeding to the next question.
Do you consider yourself an exile? Why/why not?
Do Jeramiah’s words have any bearing and meaning on the lives and faith of people today? Why/Why not?
What implications does the following passage have for believers today?
7 'Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.'
Jeremiah 29:7 (NASB)
12 'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
13 'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:12-13 (NASB)
Scripture
First Reading
18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
19 We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him
20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.
1 John 3:18-20 (NASB)
Second Reading
29 "For You are my lamp, O LORD; And the LORD illumines my darkness.
30 "For by You I can run upon a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall.
31 "As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the LORD is tested; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
2 Samuel 22:29-31 (NASB)
Third Reading
25 So the other disciples were saying to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."
26 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus *came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you."
27 Then He *said to Thomas, "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing."
28 Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"
John 20:25-28 (NASB)
Fourth Reading
11 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB)
Definitions
faith
[ feyth ]
noun
1. confidence or trust in a person or thing:faith in another's ability.
2. belief that is not based on proof:He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.
3. belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion:the firm faith of the Pilgrims.
4. belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.:to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty.
5. a system of religious belief:the Christian faith; the Jewish faith.
6. the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement, etc.:Failure to appear would be breaking faith.
7. the observance of this obligation; fidelity to one's promise, oath, allegiance, etc.:He was the only one who proved his faith during our recent troubles.
8. Christian Theology. the trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved.
Greek Strong's Number: 4102
Greek Word: πίστις
Transliteration: pistis
Phonetic Pronunciation:pis'-tis
Root: from <G3982>
Cross Reference: TDNT - 6:174,849
Part of Speech: n f
Vine's Words: Assurance, Assure, Assuredly, Belief, Believe, Believers, Faith, Fidelity
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
faith 239
assurance 1
believe + <G1537> 1
belief 1
them that believe 1
fidelity 1
[Total Count: 244]
from <G3982> (peitho); persuasion, i.e. credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstract constancy in such profession; by extensive the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself :- assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.
James Strong, Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary, (Austin, TX: WORDsearch Corp., 2007), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "4102".