Over 50 men from SGCC attended Men’s Retreat in Murietta Hot Springs last weekend. It was an amazing time of being together. There were wonderful opportunities for worship, eating together, relaxing, having meaningful conversations, and lots more. So much could be said! But I wanted to briefly share a few things about the teaching times, as these were the focus of the weekend and had a significant impact on the group. Steve Fuller was the speaker. Steve was a pastor here in the late 70’s and early 80’s, and had a profound influence on my life personally during that time (he came to the church the week I became a Christian and discipled me as a collegian during his years of ministry here). It was a joy to reconnect with him in person, and sit under his teaching again. The topic he presented was “How To Fight The Fight Of Faith.” We were encouraged to consider a Biblical view of living the Christian life. The Christian life is not to be marked by “will power,” where we crank out acts of obedience or service in our own strength or by means of self-discipline. Rather it is to be marked by faith, which Steve defined as “trusting all that God promises to be to us in Christ Jesus.” We are to continue the Christian life the same way we began it–by faith. We don’t start with faith and then move on to something else. One of the many verses he shared to this effect was Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live bv faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” It is impossible to adequately summarize Steve’s four teaching times (each accompanied by detailed handouts) in this post. But a major takeaway was seeing that living by faith involves claiming specific promises of God and applying them to our life situations. One example he gave was fighting the fight of faith in the midst of worry or anxiety. There are specific promises that God has made that speak to this. Here are just two of many:
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“YES” in Christ