Where have you placed your hope? This weekend Pastor Steve Andres started our BELIEVE series with a message about the nature of faith.

Matthew 17:20

“Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there', and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Faith is not a denial of reality, it’s a deeper reality. What does this passage teach us about how to trust God in the face of very real challenges and disappointments?

1) Every seed starts out SMALL. 

Faith is not a form of religious achievement. What matters is not the amount of faith, but the object of our faith. Even a small seed of faith, WELL-PLACED, can make mountains jump.

2) Every seed starts out SLOW.

Faith requires trust in God’s unseen work. Real faith allows us to be faithful to our assignment today, trusting that God will bring finished fruit in His perfect time.

3) Every seed has a SO THAT.

A gardener plants seeds to grow a tree and to enjoy its fruit. But Jesus said there is a SO THAT that has nothing to do with the gardener's goals. 

Matthew 13:33

"Though the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

When we place our hope and trust in Jesus, God multiplies His blessings in our lives, SO THAT others can experience God’s goodness as well!