Walk By Faith

WALK BY FAITH in 2026

This year our vision for the church is “Walk by Faith.” Last year our theme was “Grow into Oaks of Righteousness” from Isaiah 61:3. We were burdened for God to give us deep roots, to grow us up strong in the Lord, able to withstand challenges and storms. But the natural question from last year’s theme was, how does one grow? Part of the way we grow is to walk by faith. Hebrews 11:1 gives us a biblical definition of faith: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Faith has a connection to the unknown. We trust that God will guide us through whatever is ahead of us. That’s why our theme verse is 2 Corinthians 5:7, “walk by faith, not by sight.” We don’t make decisions based only on what we can see and know based on our limited knowledge and our present circumstances. We are finite beings, unable to see beyond the present, and with desires corrupted by sin. Of course we pray for wisdom and guidance and lean on our experience and wisdom and counsel from others. But our ultimate trust is in God, not ourselves, and depending on Him, whom we cannot see, requires faith.

One of my favorite examples of walking by faith in Scripture is the story of Abraham leaving his hometown. Hebrews 11 is often referred to as the “hall of faith” because of the faith on display from so many Bible characters. Hebrews 11:8 says, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” Imagine leaving your home, your family, everything you’ve known to go somewhere… and you didn’t even know where. That’s a big step of faith! Part of the reason this was described as ‘faith’ was because Abraham did not know where he was going. 

Verse 10 explains why he could take this step of faith, “For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” He knew that God would provide a better place than he could imagine himself. He knew God could envision a future that Abraham could not. So he stepped out in faith, trusting God to guide him where he needed to go.

Walking by faith is one of the most exciting parts of living the Christian life. A friend said to me recently, “I wish God would just tell me exactly what to do.” Well, there are two problems to that. First, God knows that most of us would not want to be told what to do, and He also knows, as any employer or parent knows, that people are often more excited about an idea when they are involved in the decision. Second, life is more exciting when we don’t know what is going to happen next. Think of those ENDLESS Christmas Eve nights you had to endure as a kid. You could barely go to sleep. You couldn’t wait until morning came and you could turn into a human paper shredder. Why were you so excited? Mainly because you did NOT know what presents you would receive. If you knew, you’d still be a little excited, but not the keep-me-up-all-night kind of excited.

Hebrews 11:6 also speaks to the importance of faith and the Christian life: “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.” If you want to experience the fullness and richness of a life that pleases God, we must walk by faith. Faith shows trust and dependence, like when you ask a child to trust your direction, rather than questioning your every command. Faith and trust go hand in hand, and we all need to grow in our ability to trust God more.

Here’s the thing I want to ask each of us to pray about: What step of faith would God have you take in 2026? Valley View will only grow as much as each of us grows individually. If we focus on listening to the Spirit guide each of us, we will see God move. Imagine what could happen a year from now if each of us took a significant step of faith in the coming year? Be praying about what step of faith God would have you take. 

It might be one of the following:

• Trust Him to open a door to talk about the Gospel with a neighbor, co-worker, friend, or family member.
• Commit to never missing a day reading the Bible.
• Read through the entire Bible for the first time.
• Take a step of faith in your giving, trusting that God will provide.
• Step out in faith in an area of service at the church.
• Join a Life Group, where you can build Gospel-centered relationships and be challenged to grow.
• Make church attendance a high priority for 2026.
• Pray every day for a ministry or service area of the church.
• Spend more dedicated time in prayer.

These are just a few suggestions. Be praying for wisdom and God will direct you!

Lastly I would ask that you write down this step of faith where you can regularly review and pray over it. We want to be able to look back a year from now and celebrate what God has done as we walk by faith in 2026!