Sermon

Faith Is the Key

Theme

Faith is the key that unlocks the power of God.

Object

A key ring with several keys

Scripture

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." Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well. Luke 7:9-10 (NIV)

Keys come in all different shapes and sizes. I have a lot of keys on my key ring. There is a key to my house and to the lock on the gate to my back yard. I have a key to my car, to my office at work, and another to unlock the file cabinet where I keep my important papers. There is a key to my post office box, and a key to my safe deposit box at the bank.

Most of us use keys every day, but today we are going to talk about a key that we may never even think about. It is a key called FAITH. Now faith isn't a key that is made of metal like these keys on my key ring, but it may be the most important key, because it is the key that unlocks the power of God. Our Bible lesson today tells us about a man who used his faith to heal someone that he cared for very much.

One day Jesus was in a town called Capernaum. There was a centurion, a Roman army officer, who had a servant who was very sick and about to die. The centurion heard about Jesus and sent some men to ask Jesus to come and heal his servant. The men came to Jesus and pleaded with him to heal the centurion's servant, so Jesus went with them.

Before Jesus even arrived at the house, the officer sent some men to say to him, "Don't even go to the trouble to come to my house, because I am not worthy of such an honor. Just say the word and my servant will be healed."

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. He turned to the crowd of people that was following him and said, "I haven't seen faith like this in all of Israel!" The officer's friends turned and went back to the centurion's house. When they arrived, they found the servant completely healed.

Just like the faith of the centurion in this story, our faith can unlock the power of God in our lives. There is a song that we love to sing that says:

My God is so big (great) So strong and so mighty There's nothing my God can not do for you Heavenly Father, help us to remember that no matter what obstacles we may face, our faith in you is the key that unlocks your mighty power. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

My God Is So Big Author: Ruth Harms Calkin Copyright 1959, 2002 Nuggets of Truth