Believe Again
Pastor Matt Wakefield
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If you would like to learn more about our culture, how you connect with God, get plugged into community and begin your journey to encountering God daily, MC Connect is your next step!
Text CONNECT to 59090 or visit mercyculture.com/connect
Text CONNECT to 59090 or visit mercyculture.com/connect
Welcome to Mercy Culture! We are so excited you're here.
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Text NEW to 59090 so we can connect with you.
For everyone that texts NEW, we will donate $10 to The Justice Reform, an organization that is answering the cry for justice by bringing reformation from city to city.
You're invited to our annual candlelight Christmas Eve Service on December 24, 2025, at 3PM, where we will honor and encounter our Savior, King Jesus, corporately!
Bring your whole family, friends, and be sure to invite a neighbor.
Bring your whole family, friends, and be sure to invite a neighbor.
On Sunday, December 28, our annual Sabbath Sunday service will be live-streamed. This is a time we take corporately to rest, heal, and hear God.
Our last in-person Sunday service of 2025 will be December 21.
Our last in-person Sunday service of 2025 will be December 21.
Cards
1 Kings 18:41-44
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41 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.”
42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the summit of Carmel, bent down on the ground, and put his face between his knees.
43 “Go and look toward the sea,” he said to his servant. So the servant went and looked, and he said, “There is nothing there.” Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
44 On the seventh time the servant reported, “There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea.” And Elijah replied, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”
42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the summit of Carmel, bent down on the ground, and put his face between his knees.
43 “Go and look toward the sea,” he said to his servant. So the servant went and looked, and he said, “There is nothing there.” Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
44 On the seventh time the servant reported, “There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea.” And Elijah replied, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”
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Radical Love produces radical faith.
Where love grows cold, faith will go dormant.
We are nothing without Him, but through Him I can do all things.
Faith = A reliance upon and trust in God; belief; conviction; dependence; faithfulness; trust.
Greek: πίστις (Pistis) = Assurance, belief, faith, fidelity.
Greek: πείθω (Peithō) = To persuade; to be persuaded.
Faith Simplified = Believing Jesus and trusting Him.
Hebrews 11:6
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6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
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Romans 10:17
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17 Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
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Practical Advice:
Listen to only that which builds your faith.
Listen to only that which builds your faith.
Romans 1:17
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17 For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
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James 2:17-18
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17 So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
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An active faith will produce works of righteousness—a life of obedience.
Romans 4:19-21
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19 Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) and the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb.
20 Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
21 being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.
20 Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
21 being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.
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Faith = to wrestle with an argument.
Proverbs 3:5
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5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
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Mark 11:22-23
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22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus said to them.
23 “Truly I tell you that if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and has no doubt in his heart but believes that it will happen, it will be done for him.
23 “Truly I tell you that if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and has no doubt in his heart but believes that it will happen, it will be done for him.
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Matthew 17:20
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20 “Because you have so little faith,” He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
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Genesis 3:1-5
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1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”
2 The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden,
3 but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent told her.
5 “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
2 The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden,
3 but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent told her.
5 “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
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Satan doesn't need you to deny God—just to doubt His goodness.
John 10:10
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10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.
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The Devil is bad; God is good!
Exodus 5:22-23
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22 So Moses returned to the LORD and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me?
23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not delivered Your people in any way.”
23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not delivered Your people in any way.”
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You don't have a faith problem; you have a faith placement problem.
Faith is not ignoring the facts and feelings of a thing, but exalting the truth of God's Word.
John 11:40
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40 Jesus replied, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
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“There is nothing impossible with God. All the impossibility is with us when we measure God by the limitations of our unbelief.”
— Smith Wigglesworth
— Smith Wigglesworth
5 Things to Grow Your Faith
1. Daily Encounters
2. Praying bold prayers
3. Fasting
4. Renewing your mind to God's Word
5. Exercising it
1. Daily Encounters
2. Praying bold prayers
3. Fasting
4. Renewing your mind to God's Word
5. Exercising it
You grow in faith one encounter at a time.
1 John 5:14-15
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14 And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we already possess what we have asked of Him.
15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we already possess what we have asked of Him.
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Jude 1:20
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20 But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
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I Corinthians 14:2
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2 For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries in the Spirit.
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Romans 8:26-27
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26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words.
27 And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
27 And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
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Mark 9:28-29
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28 After Jesus had gone into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
29 Jesus answered, “This kind cannot come out, except by prayer.”
29 Jesus answered, “This kind cannot come out, except by prayer.”
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Romans 12:2
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2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
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Mark 8:33
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33 But Jesus, turning and looking at His disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
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When we have in mind the things of men, it is challenging to live with the faith of God.
Colossians 3:2
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2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
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John 14:12-16
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12 Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I am doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
13 And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask Me for anything in My name, I will do it.
15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—
13 And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask Me for anything in My name, I will do it.
15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—
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1 Kings 18:41-46
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41 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.”
42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the summit of Carmel, bent down on the ground, and put his face between his knees.
43 “Go and look toward the sea,” he said to his servant. So the servant went and looked, and he said, “There is nothing there.” Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
44 On the seventh time the servant reported, “There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea.” And Elijah replied, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”
45 Meanwhile, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain began to fall. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.
46 And the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah, and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the summit of Carmel, bent down on the ground, and put his face between his knees.
43 “Go and look toward the sea,” he said to his servant. So the servant went and looked, and he said, “There is nothing there.” Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
44 On the seventh time the servant reported, “There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea.” And Elijah replied, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”
45 Meanwhile, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain began to fall. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.
46 And the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah, and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
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1 Kings 17:1
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1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD lives—the God of Israel before whom I stand—there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”
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1 Kings 18:1
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1 After a long time, in the third year of the drought, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the face of the earth.”
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