How Much Is Enough Faith?

I want you to get into group of 3-4 of people sitting next to you and read these passages from Matthew’s gospel. In your groups underline or circle words that describe the faith of people in each story. If you have any questions about the passages because some of them can be confusing. Make a note of it and ask your questions in your small groups after the lesson is done. For now try to focus on words that describe the faith of people in each story. Give 7-10 min for this activity.

Matthew 8:5-10

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 8)

5 When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, pleading with him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible agony.”7 He said to him, “Am I to come and heal him?”8 “Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”10 Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith.

Matthew 15:21-28

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 15)

21 When Jesus left there, he withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.”23 Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples approached him and urged him, “Send her away because she’s crying out after us.”24 He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”25 But she came, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, help me!”26 He answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”28 Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment her daughter was healed.

Matthew 8:23-27

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 8)

23 As he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves—but Jesus kept sleeping. 25 So the disciples came and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to die!”26 He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him!”

What were some words that you underlined or circled that described the faith of people?

Great

Little

Does that mean I can have small amounts of faith and large amounts of faith? This makes me ask this question,

How much is enough faith?

Show title slide here.

Can I somehow obtain more faith? I don’t know about you but I want to be of great faith. But what does it mean to have great faith and how do I get there?

We are going to go through one more passage in Matthew to dig further into the question, “How Much Is Enough Faith?” to see if we can get some answers.

Matthew 17:14-20.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 17

14 When they reached the crowd, a man approached and knelt down before him. 15 “Lord,” he said, “have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”

17 Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and from that moment the boy was healed.

19 Then the disciples approached Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

20 “Because of your little faith,” he told them. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

We see in this story one of the words we found in the other stories we read describing a person’s faith.

The word “Little”.

Jesus tells his disciples that they have little faith. Then what we see Jesus say next is one of the kindest but yet most embarrassing rebukes to his disciples in the gospels. He says this.

Re-read Matthew 17:20.

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 17)

Did you catch the rebuke Jesus gave his disciples? He says if only you have faith the size of a mustard seed. Now how many of you know the size of a mustard seed? Pass around the mustard seeds so each person can have one.

Show a mustard seed picture.

Jesus told his disciples that they had little faith and that if they had the faith the size of the mustard seed nothing will be impossible for them. This implies that the faith of the disciples was less than a mustard seed. Jesus is basically telling his disciples that they actually had almost no faith at all. He saying that if they had faith the size of a mustard seed they would have been able to command the demon to leave the boy in verse 15 of Matthew 17.

Because Jesus uses something so small as a mustard seed, Jesus is trying to tell his disciples that their issue was not the quantity or amount of faith but rather the quality of faith or who they were putting there faith in.

The Holman New Testament Commentary on Matthew says this,

Matthew B. Meanwhile, down below: The Disciples’ Continued Lack of Faith (17:14–21)

Attempting to quantify faith can be misleading. There is a common misperception today that “faith” in itself is the source of power, when true faith is actually an admission of powerlessness and a dependence on God’s power. When Jesus spoke of faith as small as a mustard seed, he was encouraging us to let go of our own efforts and to rely instead on God’s power.

The main point that I want you to see out of this story is this,

The disciples had little faith because they trusting in their own abilities rather than truly putting their faith in God.

To have great faith is to admit you are powerless, that you can’t do it on your own, that you’re nothing without God.

I hope you see that when we talk about little faith, it’s not referring to an amount of faith but who/what you’re putting your faith in. The disciples were trusting in themselves, who had very little control over demons on their own without God’s power. Hence why they had little faith.

To have great faith doesn’t mean that you have some great amount of faith but rather great faith means your putting your trust in God who is great and powerful. It’s who you are putting your faith in that makes it great or little.

So how much is enough faith? The difference of a mustard seed. How much is enough faith? The moment when I stop trusting in my abilities and strength and start trusting in God’s wisdom and power. The difference from no faith to having faith. The difference of the size of a mustard seed.

Transition statement: Knowing what it means to have great faith vs. little faith is one thing but to apply it to our heart is another thing.

How do I live a life that shows great faith in God?

1. First and most importantly living a life that shows great faith in God starts with confessing your need for God’s forgiveness for your sins. To admit that your sin separates you from God and that the only way you can have a right relationship with God is by putting your faith in Him by trusting the great sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as sufficient payment for your sins. That is the first and most important way of living a life that shows great faith in God. By believing and trusting in Jesus and his great sacrifice to forgive your sin and to save you from God’s wrath and eternal punishment in hell.

If you have not put your faith in God for your salvation, this weekend is a great opportunity to start. If salvation and a right relationship with God is something you desire, I encourage you to talk to your small group leader sometime during this weekend.

2. After we put our faith in God for our salvation, we can continue to live a life that shows great faith in God by trusting God in our everyday decisions and life situations.

For example, let’s talk about dating and relationships.

Do I pray to God, trusting in His plan for my life regarding dating, or do I choose who to date based off of my own desires and my own wisdom.

Share personal experience when choosing to date who I wanted to date (Jessica). I chose based off of what other people would think, how it made me feel instead of praying and trusting God.

Another major area to put our faith in God is that of jobs or a career.

Do I pray to God, trusting in His plan about what job to have or career path to pursue or am I just focused on what will bring me the most money or what I think is best.

The previous examples are big life choices. But what about putting our faith in God in the small everyday situations. Trusting in God for how we take care of our bodies, what we eat, how we spend our time, how we spend money, who we are friends with, how we treat others around us.

Ultimately, living a life that shows great faith in God will look like putting our faith in His plan for our lives everyday. Praying and being in constant communication with God everyday. Seeking to glorify Him in every activity that you do, in every friendship/relationship you have, in everything you do, doing it to bring glory, honor, and praise to God.

So I ask where are you at?

What’s your next step in living a life that shows great faith in God?

Where in your life do you find yourself trusting in your own abilities and wisdom instead of praying and putting your faith in God?

Maybe your here and have never put your faith in God, you’ve never trusted Jesus as your savior and Lord of your life. Your next step is to trust and put your faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Maybe your here and you’ve already put your faith in Jesus as your savior and Lord. Your next step is to continue to grow in your faith as you trust God in the everyday situations and decisions you encounter. Let’s pray.

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