I have many years of Christian life and ministry, and one thing I learned early: what sustains the life of a child of God is not the religion he attends, nor the experience he has accumulated, nor the size of his bank account. What sustains a Christian’s life is faith. The Bible says this in many ways and in many places, and repeats the same phrase in four different books: the righteous will live by faith.
This book was born from sermons I preached at IBRC Pelotas, our church, over several years. Some were preached with the sanctuary full, on a Sunday night. Others were preached to few people, at a time when the whole world was shut down at home because of a pandemic, and the message reached the brothers through the internet. In all of them the subject, one way or another, is the same: how to believe, how to stand firm and how to act by faith daily, when things go well and especially when they do not.
I do not believe in a decorative faith. A Sunday faith that stays in the church pew and does not go home with us. I also do not believe in a faith that promises a life without problems, because the Bible does not promise that. Jesus said plainly that we would have afflictions in the world. But He also said that we should be of good cheer, because He has overcome the world. This is the faith I preach and strive to live: a faith that does not deny the problem, but does not bow before it.
