Tested Faith - Julian Kirtisingham - 30 August 2026

I'm not here today to tell us that all challenges come from God, but God will often use these challenges to test our faith and in turn strengthen our faith.

The enemy's desire is that when your faith is tested, you give up on your faith.

God's design is that when your faith is tested, your faith is strengthened.

James 1 tells us, consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

Let perseverance finish its work in you.

It's doing something in you so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

I can hand this microphone.

To every person in the room today and probably every person joining us on YouTube today.

And every one of us would be able to share of a time that God was with us.

Even in the midst of our trials.

I think about leading through a colleague's suicide.

I think about leading through a major church leadership transition.

I think about personal challenges when it came to conceiving our second child and an associated house building journey that took three years and the news articles remain online as a monument to remember.

I think about the many times that I was faced with the challenges that come with church leadership.

My friends, it's not the trials that brought me joy.

It's what the trials did to my faith in God that have brought me joy.

The testing of my faith has produced perseverance.

So what about you? In Genesis chapter 22, we read that Abraham's faith is tested.

And there's so much richness in this scripture that we're going to take it line by line.