Ordinary Time 
Pause
Our lives are filled with images. They’re everywhere — on our phones, on television, on the side of the road. Pictures of celebrities. Pictures of athletes. Pictures of just about everything.
But what about faith? Where do we find pictures of faith?
Finding faith is no easy task. Neither is becoming a person of faith. But with God’s help it’s possible. With this in mind, we look to Scripture, and we commit ourselves to gathering with other Christ followers. Even now we wait expectantly for a word from God, with the hope that we might become a picture of faith for others to see.
Listen
What more can I say? I would run out of time if I told you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. Through faith they conquered kingdoms, brought about justice, realized promises, shut the mouths of lions, put out raging fires, escaped from the edge of the sword, found strength in weakness, were mighty in war, and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured and refused to be released so they could gain a better resurrection.
Hebrews 11:32-35
Think
There are a growing number of people in our world who think the life of faith is pointless. The very idea of attending worship or going to Bible study sounds boring to them. But if you read the Bible, you get the sense that the life of faith is anything but boring.
Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets — all of these people were full of life. In a world of division and hatred, they believed faith had something to do with tapping into the deeper current of love; for them, it was about getting completely swept up into something larger than one’s self. Faith wasn’t a ticket out of this place, but an invitation to enter into the world and make a difference. Faith was an embrace of adventure, the best kind of adventure, one that involves restoration, renewal, and salvation for all.
At its best, faith challenges, stretches, grows, inspires, changes, evolves, and resurrects.
This is what faith is about.
What a privilege, that even now, even in us, faith is alive and active in the world.
Chris Robertson
Pray
God, please help me to create a more beautiful world. Instill in me your dream for all things and give me everything I need to realize this dream. Fill me with life and use me as you see fit. Amen.
Go
In Scripture we meet hundreds of faithful people whose stories continue to inspire, enliven, and challenge us today. Each of their stories is a unique picture of faith, as well as a constant reminder that faith is always a call to action.
“Faith is better understood as a verb than as a noun, as a process than as a possession. It is an on-again-off-again rather than once-and-for-all. Faith is not being sure where you’re going but going anyway. A journey without maps.”
Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking
