This week we're starting Matthew 8 and see Jesus performing a number of healings, which raises all kinds of questions. Furthermore Jesus seems to connect these healings to having faith. And yet faith is something that is commonly misunderstood.

Dr. John R.W. Stott writes about this, "The idea of spiritual growth is foreign to many people, not least in the area of faith. We tend to speak of faith in static terms as something we either have or have not. 'I wish I had your faith,' we say, like 'I wish I had your complexion,' as if it were a genetic endowment. Or we complain 'I've lost my faith,' like 'I've lost my spectacles,' as if it were a commodity. But faith is a relationship of trust in God, and like all relationships is a living, dynamic, growing thing. There are degrees of faith, as Jesus implied when he said, 'You of little faith' and 'I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith' (Mt. 8:26, 10)." -- The Message of Thessalonians, page 144.

As we approach this passage, we have to ask the questions, "What does this teach us about faith?" and "What does this teach us about Jesus?" Come Sunday to find out more. See you then, Dr. Dave