Let's Connect
The Official Podcast of Connect Church in Rockdale, Texas, where we want to help you live a life that matters; one that is both on mission and has a purpose to know Jesus and make disciples.
Let's Connect
Episode 29 - Faith in Action: Moving Beyond Easy Christianity
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We explore the difference between passive "consumer Christianity" and active faith that produces tangible fruit in believers' lives. Moving beyond the mindset of what we can get from our faith to how we can serve others transforms our spiritual journey.
• Faith without works is dead (James), but works are the fruit of our faith, not what earns Grace
• Active faith means living out our beliefs daily, not just during Sunday services
• The Holy Spirit, not just our conscience, convicts and guides us toward active faith
• God uses both willing believers and sometimes unwilling people to accomplish His purposes
• Simple acts like taking out trash, holding doors, or praying with others are powerful expressions of faith
• Carving out dedicated daily time with God (30-60 minutes) is the foundation for active faith
• Surrender to God's will rather than trying to live out faith through human effort
• Prayer creates opportunities for ministry, sometimes in divinely appointed moments
Join us at Connect Church in Rockdale, Texas! Coffee, donuts and fellowship at 10:00 AM, worship service at 10:30 AM at the American Legion Hall. Everyone is welcome!
Welcome to Let's Connect
Speaker 1Welcome to let's Connect, the official podcast of Connect Church in Rockdale, Texas, where we want to help you to live a life that matters, one that is both on mission and has a purpose to follow Jesus and make disciples. So let's get started.
Speaker 2All right, welcome in to let's Connect, the official podcast of Connect Church here in Rockdale, texas. I'm your host, bill Whitmire, and I'm here, as always, with our pastor, ken Ansel. Ken, how are you doing today?
Speaker 3I'm doing great. How are you?
Speaker 2I'm doing all right, man, Y'all are getting all rigged up out here with fiber optic aren't you?
Speaker 3They're rigging us up, digging up. Look like those gophers or whatever we got out there, they're everywhere out there, man, they are yeah, just taking over.
Speaker 2This is episode number 29. We're almost at the big 3-0. I know it's amazing. It's over half a year's worth of podcasts. We hope everybody's enjoyed it. The last few weeks we've had a real uptick and for me that's exciting because it just means more people are getting the word. And I'm super excited about that because, you know, like you said last year and on until this coming weekend when we hit our second anniversary as a church, you know our job this last year is to know him and make him known, and so the more people that listen, it just means the more people are coming to know our Lord and Savior.
Consumer Christianity vs Active Faith
Speaker 2We've talked a lot in the past about our walk with Christ and what that means, what it should mean and what we should. I think a lot of people come into church and we've talked about easy Christianity too and a lot of people come into church with the attitude of what am I going to get out of this? And we talk about our riches aren't here on earth, that's in heaven, you know. And when? When we talk about our eternal life starts? The day that we're reborn in Christ, the day that we put our faith into Christ and he gives us that grace that we don't deserve in any way, and a lot of people get into that. Okay, I'm there.
Speaker 2Bingo, I got it and then they want that easy Christianity.
Speaker 2I've already done the hard part, but we haven't, and so you know, we have that active faith and then we have that passive faith, and James says you know that faith without works is not a faith, is a dead faith is not a faith is a dead faith and we've talked a little bit in the past, and we've talked a lot in our Bible, in our men's Bible study at Connect Church, about what that active faith looks like and what those works look like, because those works are important but they're not what gains you that grace that's the fruit of your faith and the grace that you receive that. That fruit is those works, and those works can be a myriad yeah of things, yeah, yeah, yeah, you just wow.
Speaker 3You described early on, just uh, consumer christianity. What can I get out of this? And jesus didn't die on the cross so we could do what you just said. I mean, and yeah, why don't we want to do serve, do these works, which, yeah, james outlines in a lot of different ways, like being enduring in times of trouble, persevering under trial, enduring in times of trouble, persevering under trial, purity and obedience and compassion, typically, I mean, I grew up thinking works was Sunday school, doing the nursery, mowing the churchyard. And, yeah, I grew up, james was I don't know if my mom tattooed it on my forehead or something but yeah, you got to have those works. You got to have those works. But, yeah, as you were speaking, I'm like why don't we want those works?
Speaker 1Like, why don't?
Speaker 3we want to serve the Lord, why don't we? Why didn't that excite us and, you know, stoke us, and why isn't that our passion versus maybe working to get out of works?
Speaker 2Well, you know, over the years, those we've talked about, those big three things you're told not to discuss in public, and religion's one of them. I'll leave the other two out of it, but religion's one of them, and the fact of the matter is that's the one we should be wanting. Not religion, preach, brother, but our faith in Jesus Christ. That should be what we want to be talking and those works. You know it can be mowing that lawn, you know those physical works.
Speaker 2It can be driving that church bus, it can be going and picking up folks that need a ride to church, it can be cleaning the church, it can be doing the road crew with our church and setting up before or afterwards, or teaching children's church, or working in a nursery. But it's also that example you set on a day-to-day basis. You know, we talked about it one time and I think when those people think about certain people in our lives and we think about certain people that have come before us in our lives and we look at those people and we think, man, that man, that woman, they lived that Christian life. You saw it in them. They were the example. They didn't have to really say a word, they did, but they didn't have to and you just knew it by the way they lived. And when we look at ourselves, I find myself almost on a daily basis doing something stupid and saying to myself man, that's not—.
Speaker 3I hope every listener is raising their hand right now, including me.
Speaker 2I mean, it's that thing that you just—you either think—sometimes it's just you think it and maybe you didn't do it, but you just thought it to yourself. Oh man, that's a terrible thought, yeah, intrusive thoughts you know, and the thing is, everybody does it.
Speaker 2And I always go back to Peter and Judas. Both of them betrayed Christ in the final minutes. One asked for forgiveness, the other one didn't. You know, we were asked at Bible study the other night. You know how did he ask for forgiveness? Well, christ tested him when he came back and Christ asked him three times to make up for the other three times. Do you love me? Well, yes, I love you.
Speaker 2And you know, then he was conflicted because he realized, and as part of an active Christianity, an active faith, we should receive those criticisms, those convictions in our lives and understand that man, that's God talking to us, telling us, and it can come from the Bible, it can come from you driving down the road thinking to yourself, it can come from another person in your church telling you this, and you know that may be how God is doing this. I remember somebody the other night told me about our youngest child and how without this person who is kind of an irritation, but without this one person, this child would have never come into our life. So we need to be thankful to that person. I said no, I need to be thankful to God for putting that person there and making this happen, because that was God that used that person, whether they knew it or not, to make something happen in my life. And now, when folks all the time in my profession a lot of people may not know this, but I'm actually a judge and in my profession there are a lot of bad people I see every day and I'm always amazed because God will work through those people to show me things and give me opportunities to be a Christian and demonstrate what it means to be a Christian.
Speaker 2Now, with that said, I'm not perfect. I'm a flawed human being. I'm going to make mistakes, and so I try to do what I can, but I also, as I've gotten older, it's become easier to do this. I see, when people make references or they say things to me or they bring things to me, used to, I would get irritated. Well, you're just as big a sinner as I am. Why am I going to listen to you? Well, I'm going to listen to you because God sent you in this manner, whether you know it or not, to make me reflect on myself and to somewhat convict me to myself, which, in turn, motivates me to become better.
Speaker 3In that I don't want to get us off on a rabbit trail, but in that part of the blessing of being in a church is the accountability part and having brothers and sisters that will help coach us up, and then the Holy Spirit is a great coach, right.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 3I mean, he's an old school football coach.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 3And he doesn't mind stepping on our toes, hurting our feelings if necessary. I mean, man Jesus hurts my feelings on a regular basis.
Speaker 2I remember years ago this is years and years ago and somebody had told me that you know your conscience should do that. And I said that to one of my grandfathers. He said that's not your conscience, that's the Holy Spirit. And I was like, wow, I love that and that always sits in my head. When I hear somebody say, my conscience says I should do this and I don't say it or I used to not say it. Every now and then I'll say it and I'm getting bolder about saying it and you talked about boldness, the other day.
Speaker 2I'm getting bolder about saying it, but I remember my grandfather saying that and that, just just. He said it to me and my high school football coach was standing next to me and and my high school football coach was a deacon and my sunday school teacher and and coach roberts just kind of like them so wow that is powerful and it's the truth, and yeah, and so I was stuck like a sinner sandwich right there between those two deacons yeah, yeah and, and it was just like wow that is that is the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2We say conscience because everybody wants to be Freud and PC maybe. Yeah. Why don't we be more like Christ and realize he made the disciples wait on the Holy Spirit? Why should we be any different?
God's Will vs Free Will
Speaker 3Yeah, he gave you a shot to the shores. Well, I think what you were doing. I want to get back to something you said. You talked about you and the nurse's youngest child. What a blessing he is. You were saying God used someone and they had active faith. In other words, they put their faith to work and you can kind of tie his being in your family back to that. Did I mess that up?
Speaker 2I don't know what kind of faith that person used to be honest with you. But the point was being made that without that person acting, that it would have never happened. But in reality, God was using that person to make this happen whether they were active or not yeah. Now I got you the rocks, will cry out, right He'll use whoever and whatever he wants, he will.
Speaker 2And the thing is is sometimes he'll want to use you. Yeah, and then you have to decide do you use your free will or do you use Christ's will to do what you're called to do? Yeah, I think God puts the onus on us many times every day. What did you say? How many decisions do we make in a day?
Speaker 3Yeah, like 3,500.
Speaker 2Yeah, and I think God puts the onus on us a lot of times to make the right decisions. Sure, and those right decisions are the decisions that he wants us to follow through with, and then we use either His will or our own free will to make a decision. And if you're using your own free will. Well, you're in the wrong lane.
Speaker 3You're going to miss it. Yeah, his perfect will or His permissive will. A lot of people operate just daily, all the time, in the permissive will. But yeah, think about the blessings of having an active faith, going beyond what you started saying initially was someone getting saved, becoming a Christian, and then maybe just freestyling it, which didn't get you anywhere spiritually. So a mental acknowledgment of God is who he says he is. Jesus did die on the cross. He was raised from the dead. He did ascend back to heaven.
Speaker 3We can have a mental ascent, but that doesn't mean it's in our heart. And if it's in our heart, then we're going to have this active faith, not a passive faith, something sitting on a shelf. There's going to be tangible expressions, you know, and I saw a guy Sunday. You know, we haul the we don't have our own building, you know so we were in a venue and I saw a guy carrying the trash out Sunday and I'm like you know that's—I love those people. I don't know if that guy has a gift of service, but those are some of my favorite people that just kind of work in the shadows. But I thought, you know, that's a tangible expression of what I perceive as his love for God and his love for his church family, because nobody wants to haul the trash out. I mean that bag was full brother.
Speaker 2Yeah, it was full. I packed it and he took it from me and I said I got it. He said, no, let me do it, I want to do something. And I said well, you got it, brother.
Speaker 3And it was full. It was full.
Speaker 2No, I got to a certain point and they said let me take it, I'll put it in my dumpster, are you sure? He said yeah. So okay, you got it, brother. I mean, and it was full, it was all I mean the nurse went everywhere.
Speaker 3I think she emptied rooms we weren't even in. You know well how many. How many connect church members? Does it take to take out the trash too?
Speaker 2maybe three. I was three in that case.
Speaker 3Sunday was three but what a joy for us to to be and take this in the right way, building our spiritual resume right. Yeah, that one day we stand before the Lord and he says well done, good and faithful servant, because we had an active faith pursuing his perfect will. I mean, servant leadership is about doing what needs to be done. Jesus saw no one was there. There wasn't a servant to wash the feet. He's like let's go, I got it. And so, wow, why don't we want to be like that?
Speaker 2You've talked about that. I have no idea. I mean you've talked about it. Before we wake up in the morning, what's the first thing we do, what's the first thing we're thinking about? And a while back the nurse gets up before me and she takes her shower. And then I get up and I take my shower and after we had that talk, I thought you know, I am reading the Bible, but I'm waiting until I get to the office.
Speaker 3So I've got, depending on whether she's washing her hair or not.
Speaker 2I've got seven and a half to 15 minutes, it just depends. And that's plenty of time to sit there and pull open my Bible app right there and read a little section whether it's three verses or it's 30 verses, it just depends on how God is talking to me that morning and then say a little prayer and it's not much. But to me it gets me on that active plane where I'm actively involved in my Christian life right from the get-go that day.
Speaker 2Yeah, big difference, and then she does it later on after she's out of the shower.
Speaker 2And then when you talk about that active life, that's what it looks like I think a lot of folks. We get saved, we join the church and then we're just kind of on that passive coast and every now and then we'll do something, we'll take that trash out when we have that chance, but we don't actively. You know we don't show up and show out, so to speak. You know we're not there to help with every little thing or any little thing. We just show up, check in, pray, sing, pray, listen to you, sing again, shake everybody's hand and we'll see you next week and that act of faith is that. Yeah, you know what. I am going to see you, god willing, next Sunday, but I'm going to talk to you between now and then. We're going to do some things between now and then. If I need something, I'm going to call one of y'all. If you need something, you call me. We are a family and we're going to be active in each other's lives, but we're going to be active in our own lives too. But we're going to be active in our own lives too.
Speaker 2We talked a few weeks ago about God talking to us through reading the Bible. And if you're just reading the Bible and you're reading word to word. I'm glad you're reading the Bible but, like I said earlier, if you read three verses or 30 verses, whatever it takes that day for God to talk to you, I've read a verse and gone back and read it 20 times and just thought, man, you know, I've read this verse a hundred times in my life and it's never been powerful and like, like it is right now. Sure, you know, and that's because you're active, that's when God's going to talk to you. You know God's we hear this all the time. God's there all the time. We just have to engage, and that's the truth about active faith you have to engage. If you don't engage, guess what? He's still there. You're just not a part of it, and that's the harsh way of saying it, but that's what it is yeah, yeah, how many people are living?
Speaker 3This is what I think I find, you know, recently I see people that are living out their faith through the flesh. They're not relying on the Holy Spirit, like I know, one lady I used to know way back in Waxhatchee. She'd say, pastor, you know, somebody upset her, she goes. But I wanted to say something but I just bit my tongue. I was good and I thought you know what's better than biting your tongue? Living it out in the flesh is to trust the Holy Spirit, not to say something. And I just, you know a lot of people.
Speaker 3I hear it all the time. You know we start a new Bible study, maybe at church. You know, like the women are, and they're like I'm going to get in that and I'm not going to miss and I'm going to be in that thing every day. And you know I mean that's good, right, those are great goals. But you know those people tend to and I'm not talking about any specific person, I've just seen it for a long time. They make it two weeks and then you know it's a parable of the soul.
Speaker 3You know, something comes up, cares of the world, whatever. Maybe they made bad choices and went to the movies instead of going to Bible study, I don't know, but you know. And then it's like, okay, well, the next one I'm going to give them out. You know, to me that's, you know, that's biting your tongue, that's trying to do it in your flesh, rather than surrender. Surrender and say you know, here I am, lord, use me, send me. I'm going to. It's Matthewew 6, 33 seek first the kingdom and everything else falls into place. So, yeah, I, I would man, I would encourage anybody that that wants to be faithful to god and be obedient and have these works. You know that that are like more than just taking out the trash, right it's controlling the tongue.
Speaker 3Humility james points these things out truthfulness, in james 4, 11. And being patient or long-suffering in James 5.8,. To do it through a surrenderedness and die to themselves.
Speaker 2This week. Talking about this, my grandmother used to say I remember a lady asked her one time. She said, emily, I just don't know how to talk to people like you do, and grandmother told her pray with them. When they come to you and they have a problem. You don't have to sell their problem, say you know what? Can we pray about this and then pray with them?
Speaker 1That's a ministry.
Speaker 2It is all in one this week. Yesterday, day before yesterday, I finished court, had a full day of court and some days after court I'm pretty lighthearted. And then some days after court are harder than others, and this one was a little hard.
Speaker 3And these two ladies came into my courtroom.
Speaker 2They were from New Braunfels, which, if you're not in Texas, that's a couple hours away and they came in and they said, Judge, we'd like to pray with you.
Speaker 3And it was weird.
Speaker 2No, and it was weird because one of the ladies actually was a theater teacher with with my oldest daughter, and so I said, well, I, I tell you what. I always appreciate that, but even more today because I really feel like I need it today. And their goal is to go to all 254 counties in the state of texas and pray with the judges and the courthouse staffs.
Speaker 2That's cool and um, it's one of those few times where, as a grown man, I teared up because we were praying, because it was just. You know and I pray in my office quite a bit I have families that come in with mental health issues and a lot of times they'll want to pray and we'll pray.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 2But that was one of those times where it was just nice to know and I really felt like that day, you know, God knew, and they said they were actually going to Bell County and decided to come over here for some reason. You know, and I honestly believe God knew and knew right where they needed to be.
Power of Prayer in Daily Life
Speaker 2That day and it was great and so you know we talk about works and I ran off all those physical labors that you can do, but the fact of the matter is just being there for somebody and praying with somebody. You don't have the answer. I get it. I don't always have the answer. God does, and he's going to work that answer out eventually. But sometimes all we can do is just pray and help those folks through prayer.
Speaker 3Yeah, we don't want to minimize the Spirit's work, and being bold and courageous, in a sense Like for some people to say, hey, can we pray, can I pray for you? That's a, that's a pretty bold act. I had a guy that I don't really know, but I kind of had to correct him. It's just kind of a weird story, you know. I mean, he was just doing some stuff and I'm like dude, you need to get that on the down low. And uh, and he, this was through texting and and he texts me back and he said you know, which is what you're talking about? And he was inquisitive and open to coaching, really. And he goes well, ken, what can I do? You know, yada, yada. And so I called him and, uh, I said, well, man, let's pray about you know this.
Speaker 3And he that was that was about 10 days ago he texted me back back. I mean, that's all I did, I really didn't do anything and I felt bad because I kind of had to push back on him a little bit and he's a nice enough guy and he loves the Lord. But he texted me back today. He said hey, ken, thanks for praying for me the other day. That worked, or something to that effect.
Speaker 3There was some manifestation of God responding to that prayer and I didn't cry. I cry at the drop of a hat, but very humbling very humbling to be used by God in that way and in a way that, you know, I just kind of took it for granted really.
Speaker 2Well, I think a lot of times we think we have to do these over-the-top things Good point and sometimes it's just that simple it these over-the-top things, good point. And sometimes it's just that simple. It's just God saying hey, pray with this person, pray with my brother, take the trash out.
Speaker 3Take the trash out. I mean that's huge, Take the trash out.
Speaker 2I didn't want to put that it was huge, jennifer's car. Oh, it was.
Speaker 3That was a lot of trash. We set a record for church trash, probably we did well, I think the nurse, like I said, she probably gathered stuff from a year ago in the back of that place so she was in cleaning mode.
Speaker 2Believe me, my house is immaculate right now. We don't even have anybody coming over right now, but it's so. I mean she did her once a year, put all her clothes up, thing, and I was like walked in the bedroom, in our bedroom, and I thought, man, I can sit in my chair, wow, you, not my other chairs, because my stuff's on that but her stuff's all gone, like your laundry or something. Yeah, all her laundry, all her laundry. I'm telling bad stories, but all her laundry.
Speaker 3I don't know if I believe that?
Speaker 2Hey, I have like an eighth of our closet and the rest is hers, so believe it.
Starting Your Active Faith Journey
Speaker 3Okay, hey, I know we need to go, but this man, I just, you know, I wonder if there's a lot of people that, yeah, they're just like I don't know how to get out of the starting gate on this. I don't know what to do. I mean, I think we've given some pro tips, but that's a concern of mine. Like some people are like man, I don't know I want to do, I want to have an active faith. I think it starts with.
Speaker 2We've talked about this before too taking that time, carve that time in your day. I carve an hour out of my day. I have to. I'm so busy in my job and other things I have going on and with all of our kids, grandkids, I'm extremely busy. But I carve that little bit in the morning at 10, 15 minutes in the morning. But then I carve about an hour a day where I will sit down and open my Bible and read and pray and you know that's not a pro thing to do. That's a good starting place and even if it's 30 minutes, it's what it is. For me it's about an hour because, I'll be honest, I read slowly, I do not read fast.
Speaker 3Well, you graduated from Giddings. Well, yeah, I had something to do with it.
Speaker 2But I do. I read slowly because I try to comprehend everything and I can't do that and read fast and I read out loud a lot of times. You know to myself so I can hear it. But whether you read for 30 minutes and pray for five, or you read for an hour or 45 minutes and pray for 15, whatever you do, those first two things I think are the most important first step that you can take in an active faith is to take that time, because now you're taking at least they say you do something for an hour a day, within a year you'll become an expert.
Speaker 2Think about it if you spend an hour in your bible, 45 minutes in your bible and 15 minutes praying, in a year you're going to be an expert. You know, or as much of an expert as you can be, about Christ and about God, and I think that's such a huge. If I had to recommend to somebody a first step, that's what I would recommend.
Speaker 3Yeah, establish their day, yeah, as the Lord. Yeah, pray and ask God open up some doors for me today.
Speaker 2Pray that more. I pray every morning. When I pray, One of the things I tell everybody, that one of the things I pray is God. I don't know what you have planned for me today, but please use me as part of your mission today.
Speaker 2That's good. Sometimes it's blatantly obvious that he's used me and then sometimes I'm at the end of the day going well. I'm not sure how you used me, but I hope it was good. And part of that may be me being an example to somebody who just sees me, doesn't know anything. Maybe I held the door open at the right time for somebody or I helped them with the trash at the right time.
Speaker 3You just never know. Yeah, all right. You're up to pray, I think.
Speaker 1Okay.
Closing Prayer and Announcements
Speaker 2Dear Lord, we thank you for this beautiful day and all that you do for us. Father, we love you so much and we just hope that we can be that example for folks and to help us all realize what it is that you want us to do, what it is that you need us to do, what works you have planned for us. In the Bible you said that you have the works planned for us already and that, by our faith, through your grace, those works will shine. And so, father, we just ask that you let those works come through for you and for your kingdom. We pray, we thank you for all that you do and we say this prayer through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen, all right, that is episode number 29 of let's Connect. We went just a little long, but that's okay, it's all good information.
Speaker 2If you're local, we'll be at the American Legion Hall in Rockdale. We have coffee, donuts and fellowship at 10 o'clock and then at 1030, worship service starts. Everybody's welcome. Come on out and be with us. We look forward to seeing you and if you're way out of the area, we'll be back next week with another episode. Thank you.
