by Pastor Daniel
 
Introduction
Faith is the very basis of our Christian life.  Yet faith is a concept somewhat mysterious.   In essence, it means believe.  Yet it is more than just believe, it is the ability to trust in our hearts.
 
However, faith is also real and practical.  As I was thinking of faith in the sense of believing what God can do in our lives, I realize that the practise of faith is seen in scripture.  God will put us into situation that all that is demanded is really faith - when we have lost every sense of resources on our own and everything we tried failed.
 
Faith though should not be the last resort but our first response, oftentimes is a struggle.
 
I share my meditation from Hebrews 12:1-2 about our practise of faith.
 
Remembering the Saints of the Past
The message of Hebrews 12:1 exhorts us to remember the cloud of witnesses that surrounds us.  These are the saints of old who had practised their faith and they become our cheerleaders in our present journey. 
 
Starting with Abel as one who gives righteously.  We have then Enoch who walked faithfully, followed by Noah who obeyed unconditionally.
 
Abraham - the man whose trademark is faith to the point of sacrificing his only son when demanded of.  Then we have the transformed Jacob who would not let go if God did not bless him.  We also see Joseph who turned trials to triumphs in his life.  Moses was a man who attempt great things for God.
 
Then came the simple ordinary people who had not a splendid past - Rahab the harlot, Gideon the coward, Barak the man who hid behind a skirt of a woman, Samson the failure, Jepthath, the man who presumed too much - but they all did great exploits for God.  And the list went on.
 
The point is that THEY TRUSTED GOD AT ALL TIMES.
 
Removing the sins that pull us down.
In our practise of faith is also the challenge of consecration.  What hinders us from having faith oftentimes are the sins that pull us down.  Hebrews explained that they are a hindrance that so easily entangles us.
 
They are so subtle that we don’t think they matters.  My thoughts took me not just glaring sins that we all can understand but entanglements that pull us back. 
 
In our journey, we permit complacency to pull us down.  We perhaps feel that we don’t have to push ourselves anymore.  Our lost love for God is another factor.  We simply got use to things.  Our comparison with others, rationalizing that we had done so much compared to others pull us back in our journey of faith. 
 
Have we allow those factors to stop us from walking, not just faithfully bur fervently with the Lord?
 
Refocusing our on Savior, the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith
This is where all of us must begin, restart and be restored.  It is about looking to Jesus.
 
I think every now and then, we take stock of our lives.  We might have lost our tracks.  We might have lost our passion.  We might have lost our purpose.  We might have lost our perspective.  We come back to where we should have been.  We get back on track.
 
The practise of faith is about REFOCUSING all the time onto Jesus, because he is the pioneer or the beginner of our faith and the perfecter of our faith. 
 
“He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day of Jesus Christ.”
 
Conclusion
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we come to another administrative year at our AGM, let us practise our faith, contour our perspective and continue with perseverence.  Let us REMEMBER, REMOVE AND REFOCUS.