Sunday Diary: ||8/2/2026|| Sermon on how powerful faith can be and other church activities.

Hello, great Steemians. Happy Sunday to you all. I hope you all are doing well. I'm here to tell you how Sunday service was today and what I learned in today's service. So today, being the second Sunday of the month, was a special healing service and also doubled as a communion service in my church (Living Faith Church, Oron). Today I arrived early, even before one of the pastors declared the service open, and shortly after that, the choir stepped in to minister. Our call to worship was taken from the book of Psalm 125:1-5, a hymn was sung, an announcement was made, and testimonies were given. A lady gave a testimony today on how God healed her of fibroids via Shiloh 2025. She already booked for surgery, but through her faith, God healed her instantly at Shiloh. All the congregation was in awe of this testimony; even the pastors were amazed, and we all gave thanks to God for his miracles. After the testimony offering was collected, Pastor Emmanuel Bomabebe, the assistant resident pastor, stepped in to minister.

The topic today was Engaging in the Healing Power of Faith, Part 2, and the text was taken from the book of Mark 9:27-29. I learned that we can only get health through our faith, and it takes a violent faith to receive instant healing (Mark 2:22). Examples of those who received their instant healing in the Bible include Hezekiah, whom God added fifteen more years to his life through faith (Isaiah 28:1-5). The blind Bartimaeus received his sight through faith (Mark 10:46-52). The woman with the issue of blood who received instant healing just by touching Jesus' garment, the Canaanite woman whose sick daughter was healed instantly through her faith even though she was an unbeliever, and many more in the Bible. These miracles don't just happen in the Bible alone; they still happen even now in the world.

So what then is faith? I learned that faith is a living force drawn from the living word to produce living proof. Faith is putting God's word to work and believing in God. John 2:5, and faith is also taking the responsibility in the desire of the scriptures. So now we know what faith is, but how powerful is this faith? I learned that faith invokes the fulfillment of prophecies (Jeremiah 23:2-21), faith is what makes us please God, and faith is fake if it lacks growth. I learned that when faith comes alive, deliverance comes along (1 John 5:4).

But if faith has this power, then why is it that the faith of many is not working? The first thing I learned about this is the misconception about faith; most believers rely on someone else's faith or hang their faith on their pastors or relatives instead of God. Faith is total reliance on God and not the other way round, and building of faith is personal; no one will build that for you. The second thing I learned was unanswered prayers; to receive anything from God, we need to believe that God will give it to us and not be doubtful that he won't answer. The third thing I learned was the lack of personal action and discipline in James 2:28. Faith requires active daily commitment because faith is an active living force that must be demonstrated. Belief without action is insufficient faith. The next is lack of spiritual growth; when you don't grow spiritually through the word, you might not be able to build your faith and also not get answers. Romans 10:17, John 8:32, and finally fear and self-sufficiency: most believers trust in themselves more than they trust God and therefore lack confidence in God (Romans 4:19-21, Proverbs 3:5-6), but when we decide to put our trust in the Lord, God will direct our path. Therefore, to keep your faith growing, one must keep their hope alive (Ecclesiastes 9:4).

After the sermon, Pastor Emmanuel called out those who gave their lives to Christ to pray for them briefly and also welcomed the first-timers in the church. Shortly the resident pastor, Pastor Chuck, came up and gave us powerful healing prayer points to pray for ourselves and families, and later on he blessed the Communion, and all the members of the church partook of it. And then we danced and celebrated God for answers and for his word. A few minutes later the pastor declared God's blessings over our lives, and then we shared the grace.

Thank you.