FAITH IN …..
The Latin word for faith is "fides", which means to trust, or to put your trust in something that is trustworthy (think of the English word confide)
According to the English dictionary, to have faith in someone or something means to put your trust or to believe in their ability, goodness and effectiveness.
Christian faith is not faith in a theory or in someTHING, but in SOMEONE …. Jesus Christ.

The basic elements of Christian faith are based on the Bible, it includes trust in God, commitment to Christ and knowledge of God.

TEMPORARY FAITH vs FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST
Temporary Faith
Some people pray to God and only trust Him for temporary things like health, money, a home, a husband, etc. and when the need is met, they forget about Him and continue on their own without Him. The Bible says in 1 Cor 15:19: If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world.

Faith in Jesus
Faith is to put your trust in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life. To know and believe that He is the only One who can forgive sins. Jesus said in John 6:47: I tell you for certain that everyone who has faith in Me has eternal life.

THREE PARTS OF FAITH
Understanding the facts about what Jesus did for us, when He died on the cross:
The Bible says that "faith comes from hearing the message" (Rom 10:17)

Agreeing with these facts:
If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from death, you will be saved. (Rom 10:9 GNB)

Trusting in these facts for our eternal salvation:
Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved (Acts 16:31 GNB)

WHAT DO WE BELIEVE?
We believe that God exists
No one can please God without faith, for whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists (Heb 11:6 GNB)

We believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He is the Messiah
But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in Him, you will have true life. (John 20:31 CEV)

We believe that Jesus paid for our sins by dying on the cross
Christ himself carried our sins in his body to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. It is by his wounds that you have been healed. (1Pet 2:24 GNB)

We believe that He rose from the dead
Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say. He was buried, and three days later he was raised to life, as the Scriptures say. (1Cor 15:3-4 CEV)

We believe that He gives us the gift of eternal life
.. God's free gift is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23 GNB)

BELIEVE THIS MESSAGE!
1 Cor 15:1-4
My friends, I want you to remember the message that I preached and that you believed and trusted. You will be saved by this message, if you hold firmly to it. But if you don't, your faith was all for nothing. I told you the most important part of the message exactly as it was told to me. That part is: Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say. He was buried, and three days later he was raised to life, as the Scriptures say.

FAITH IS OUR HANDLE ON WHAT WE CANNOT SEE
To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see. (Heb 11:1 GNB)

Jesus said, "Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen Me? The people who have faith in Me without seeing Me are the ones who are really blessed!" (John 20:29 CEV)

Faith is daring the soul to go beyond what the eyes can see.

Someone said "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe"

LIVE BY FAITH .. ONE DAY AT A TIME
When do I have faith in God? 
When I look around me and I am not influenced by negative circumstances; when I put my trust in the Lord and not in people.
"Faith is the light that guides you through the darkness" ; "Faith is like radar that sees through fog"

When do I struggle to believe?
When I take my eyes away from God, when I look for proof of things, when I have doubt that God is God and that He is in control.

Max Lucado says "Faith is not the belief that God will do what YOU want. It is to believe that God will do what is right"

Frequently remind yourself that God is with you, that He will never fail you, that you can count upon Him. Say these words: "God IS with me, helping me"

Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, faith looks up!

HOW CAN I HAVE MORE FAITH?
By studying the Bible so that you can learn about God's character - who He is, and what His promises are.

By listening or reading about other people's testimonies about their faith. For example: you can read in Heb 11 about the faith of Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and others. It is said of them: All of them pleased God because of their faith! (Heb 11:39 CEV)

By sharing your own testimony - when you tell others about God's grace and His love for you and for them, your faith will be strengthened.
We're not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, "I believed it, so I said it," we say what we believe. (2Cor 4:13 MSG)

STAND FIRM IN YOUR FAITH
But you must stay deeply rooted and firm in your faith. You must not give up the hope you received when you heard the good news. (Col 1:23 CEV)

Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be brave, be strong. (1Cor 16:13 GNB)

SHOW YOUR FAITH
My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don't do anything to show that you really do have faith (James 2:14 CEV)

In the same way, faith by itself is dead if it doesn't cause you to do any good things. Another person might say, "You have faith, but I do good things." Show me your faith apart from the good things you do. I will show you my faith by the good things I do. (James 2:17-18 GW)

You see that a person receives God's approval because of what he does, not only because of what he believes. (James 2:24 GW)

RESULT OF FAITH
We receive God's forgiveness
… all who believe in Him will have their sins forgiven through the power of his Name. (Acts 10:43 GNB)

We are put right with God
For we conclude that a person is put right with God only through faith (Rom 3:28 GNB)

We have peace with God
By faith we have been made acceptable to God. And now, because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we live at peace with God. (Rom 5:1 CEV)

We are saved
Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved (Acts 16:31 GNB)

We have God's approval
It was by their faith that people of ancient times won God's approval. (Heb 11:2 GNB)

We receive eternal life
For God loved the world so much that He gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not die but have eternal life. (John 3:16 GNB)

We are free from judgement
Those who believe in the Son are not judged; but those who do not believe have already been judged, because they have not believed in God's only Son. (John 3:18 GNB)

We are God's children
.. He gave the right to become God's children to everyone who believed in Him. (John 1:12 GW)

We can go into God's presence with confidence
We can go to God with bold confidence through faith in Christ. (Eph 3:12 GW)
So let's come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith. (Heb 10:22 CEV)

Our hearts are cleansed
They put their faith in Him, and He made their hearts pure. (Act 15:9 CEV)

We have joy
He and his family were filled with joy, because they now believed in God. (Act 16:34 GNB)

THE QUESTION
If Jesus asks you this question today, as He did in John 9:35: "Do you believe in the Son of Man?", what would your answer be?