Practicing Your Faith Daily in 5 Simple Ways
During your everyday hustle and bustle, your focus on the faith could fall by the wayside. From picking up the kids at soccer practice to meeting deadlines at work, you might not be placing that much emphasis on God — Who is precisely Who you need the most.
To help find ways to keep the faith in the balance, Household of Faith in Christ is here to share five simple ways to practice your faith daily.
Tip 1: Watch Sermon Videos on the Go
If you happen to miss hearing a sermon in-person due to extenuating circumstances, consider watching a biblical sermon video. Whether it be a recent sermon or one from a few months ago, watching these videos will help you maintain your bond with the faith, as well as keep you motivated to maintain perseverance.
Tip 2: Make Time to Pray Throughout the Day
As human beings, sometimes we keep “running” throughout the day without taking a break. However, it’s essential to make some “time to get away” now and then. That said, set aside at least 15 minutes a day to connect with the LORD in prayer.
Making time to pray throughout the day can help:
Sustain your assurance of faith
Keep your mind and heart aligned with His will
Identify (and avoid) temptations, and more
Tip 3: Listen to Gospel-Exalting Music
To energize your soul and strengthen your resolve, consider listening to biblically faithful music. Nowadays, many songs are filled with profanity and suggestive themes. Setting mainstream music aside for authentic Bible-based tunes can help uplift and encourage you, as well as maintain your relationship with Christ.
Tip 4: Read the Bible
At Household of Faith in Christ, the Bible is taught using the historical-grammatical method — meaning, we use exegesis (reading out of the text) instead of eisegesis (reading into the text). Using this method, find time throughout your day to read and study the Bible, whether a physical or digital copy.
Tip 5: Pray Before Meals
Whether it’s a small meal or a large one, make it a habit to pray before eating. Praying before dining is a simple way to keep your Creator and Sustainer consistently in your thoughts. Of course, if you’re dining with others, invite them to pray with you before you enjoy your meal together.
House Church in Frederick, Maryland
Household of Faith in Christ is not a megachurch, nor do we intend to be a stereotypical American church that meets in a traditional church building. We’re a Frederick house church that’s part of a growing network of house churches that meet in a person’s home. Household of Faith in Christ, specifically, meets on Saturdays from 5:30-7:30 PM EST, and we would rejoicingly welcome you into our gathering of Christ-followers.
If you’re interested in worshiping with us, learning about the teaching of God’s Word, or connecting with the network as a house church pastor yourself, connect with us today.
POSTSCRIPT
The blog above was originally published on the original version of this website. It was written by someone helping to manage the site rather than by the pastor. With this remodeled website, things have been completely reformatted and upgraded. This change meant that the blogs had to be re-uploaded to correct corruptions that occurred with the transition. While doing this, additional information has been added at the conclusion of this older blog in this “postscript” section, which did not appear in the first draft that was published on the original website. You can think of this new content, which is authored by the pastor, as “bonus material”.
Creationism – Baby Murder – Environment
While appreciating the “Can’t we all get along?” attitude of this article, it is hard to ignore the fact that the author belies an apparent and unapologetic liberal superiority complex. Sorry to be a party pooper, but what exactly is the “overwhelming scientific evidence for evolution”? Does the writer not understand that many who refute evolution theory do so because of evidentiary reasons? And to the question “Can’t we support the legal availability of abortion?”, does the writer not understand that the answer must be “no” for pro-lifers who view abortion as murder? And to the question “Can’t we accept the scientific consensus on climate change?”, does the writer not understand that critics of climate-change-belief say that they prefer evidence over “consensus” when it comes to scientific conclusions? The observations I’m making are not dependent on whether evolution is false, or abortion is wrong, or climate change views are misguided. The observation I’m making is that the writer of this article is tone deaf to the chorus of voices he would most like to persuade. He either does not know this, or he does not care. Either way, it is a bit sad.
Was John Calvin Too Dour?
A friend shared his thoughts saying that he found it fascinating that John Calvin thought David’s prayer at the close of Psalm 39 exceeded “the proper limits of grief,” and was not “pure and well-seasoned with the sweetness of faith.” In other words, Calvin believed that the closing line of Psalm 39 expresses an unbelieving sentiment. Hence, should we reflexively believe the sentiments of the Psalms are normative? Apparently Calvin thought “no”:
But we may easily infer, from the language which he employs, that his mind was so affected with the bitterness of his grief that he could not present a prayer pure and well seasoned with the sweetness of faith; for he says, before I depart, and be no more: a form of speech which indicates the feeling almost of despair. Not that David could regard death as the entire annihilation of man, or that, renouncing all hope of his salvation, he resigned himself to destruction; but he employs this language, because he had previously been so much depressed by reason of grief, that he could not lift up his heart with so much cheerfulness as it behooved him. This is a mode of expression which is to be found more than once in the complaints of Job. It is obvious, therefore, that, although David endeavored carefully to restrain the desires of the flesh, yet these occasioned him so much disquietude and trouble, that they forced him to exceed the proper limits in his grief.
Or Was John Calvin Correct?
I responded to my friends thoughts about Calvin with thoughts of my own, saying that they were interesting thoughts, but what does this mean for the idea that, in a sense, Christ is the Psalmist? For example, these beautiful words from Dr. Peter Lee in his article ‘Sad Songs Don’t Say Everything’ wrote:
Jesus is the true singer of the psalms, even the psalms of lament. However, our union with Christ not only identifies Jesus as the true singer of the psalms, but we, His chosen people, also can now sing these psalms of lament. We do not merely sing about Jesus, nor do we merely sing to Jesus. By the grace of God, we sing with Jesus. In our heavenly union with Christ, His songs become our songs. Thus, in Christ we have joined a glorious choir with Jesus as our Choirmaster where we celebrate the biblical psalms that reflect and meditate upon the sorrows that we endure during times of darkness and our ultimate victory in Christ.
It’s been noted by others that an “anti-excessive-grief theme” is found all through Calvin, such as when his wife died and he was ashamed of his own grief. It’s one area where possibly his stoic demeanor went beyond proper bounds with little biblical basis (it in fact stands in significant tension with the Psalms of lament mentioned by Dr. Lee above). Perhaps it should be placed in the same category as Calvin’s claim that the use of musical instruments in worship is an Old Testament “shadow” to be discontinued after Christ.
Rent, the Gospel, and a Dad Joke
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife
In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure a year in the life?
How about love? How about love? How about love?
I once saw a stage play, a musical, that very accurately captured much that is true about life in the world. As the lyrics to “Seasons of Love” tell us, there is both laughter and strife. And our lives can pass us by quickly with meaninglessness, if we’re not careful. But “Rent” blends these helpful insights with a troubling outlook on the human condition. For example, these words from the song “No Day but Today”:
The heart may freeze or it can burn, the pain will ease if I can learn
There is no future, there is no past, there’s only us, there’s only this
No other road, no other way, no day but today
There’s only yes, only tonight, we must let go, to know what is right
No other course, no other way, I trust my soul, my only hope is just to be
There’s only now, there’s only here, No other path, no other way, no day but today
Believe it or not, these songs provide the perfect teaser for a sermon I preached on 2 John. You can find the audio on Odysee and SermonAudio.
Here’s the promised dad joke:
When I was a kid, something going viral was a national health emergency. Tag was a game kids played. And hashtag wasn’t a word, but if it had been then the DEA would have likely been involved.
Many blessings to you,
Pastor Troy Skinner
