No Faith, Some Faith, More Faith (Matthew 17:14-21; Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:37-43a)

In this one incident of Jesus healing a young man (told in three Gospels), we hear three conversations about faith and doubt: Jesus' comments to religious leaders who had no faith, a brief but revealing dialogue between Jesus and the boy's father about faith and doubt, and Jesus' de-briefing instructions to his disciples about their need for more faith in prayer.  Who will you relate to most?

Toward a Sustaining Faith (Matthew 14:22-31; 1 Peter 1:3-9)

This Sunday we consider faith and doubt from Peter’s success and failure at water-walking. Peter’s faith was fickle -- lots of “successful failures” in which Peter successfully and courageously stepped out, and then failed miserably. Sound familiar? But toward the end of his life his faith expression is strong and solid. Our purpose Sunday is to study how we can nurture a faith that will endure and become increasingly vital, sustaining us throughout our lives.