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Look again at
the scripture where we are told that our faith is more precious than gold (1
Peter 1:7). We begin our Christian life with faith that proves our love for
God (1 John 5:3). God wants our faith to keep growing (2 Thessalonians 1:3).
What makes our faith grow? By continuing the things that brought faith to us
in the first place: reading and studying God’s word (Romans 10:17) and using
our faith in our lives (1 Thessalonians 1:3). We use our faith and our faith
grows, just as using our physical muscles makes them grow. That is expressed
in 2 Corinthians 5:7 as walking by faith.
My main goal in
life was to plant churches where they did not exist, or were very small, and
build them up. I used a saying to those churches - “struggle makes us
strong!” We went to Minneapolis, Minnesota in June 1944 when we had one
congregation of fifteen members in a Twin City population of over one
million. The small church had met for 34 years in rented places. We found a
small church building that we could buy for $4,500. The small church had
saved up $2,000 and I raised $2,500 more among my friends. We paid cash for
the building. Brother Wayne Taylor was the treasurer of the small church. He
was an auditor for General Mills Co. He deposited the small contributions in
a bank account, and he paid bills on time. We deposited the $2500 I raised
along with the church’s money and wrote a check for the purchase price of
the building. We began advertising in the newspaper about our work. The
Polytechnic Church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas sent us there, and they
budgeted enough to help us advertise the church and reach out to others. The
church began to grow. The building seated only 75. In four years we had 95
additions, and outgrew the space in the building. I found another building
that seated 150. We sold our small building, and we needed a bank loan to
buy the larger building. When Brother Taylor and I approached the bank, they
said, “We notice that you pay your bills on time, so we have the confidence
that you will repay the loan.” Acting on faith, obligating ourselves for
things, and meeting those obligations builds faith. We sold the small
building, bought the larger building, and in two more years we had a
self-supporting congregation of over 100 members. We walked by faith. We
became stronger in faith and we built up the Lord’s church on faith. When we
do that we gain the confidence of others.
God wants us
to keep walking by faith – stretching our faith – then we grow in our faith,
and the Lord’s work is built up as our faith grows.
Harvey
Childress, servant of Jesus Christ |
Harvey Childress |
