Simple Faith - Grassroots with Angus Buchan

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:01][music] [singing] >> I greet you in Jesus' precious name.

[00:00:31]It's a beautiful morning on the farm.

[00:00:33]And we want to speak to you today about our favorite subject at Shalom Ministries. What is it? Yes, you got it right.

[00:00:40]One word, faith. Now, not faith in faith, no, faith in Jesus Christ.

[00:00:47]There's the difference. If we go straight to the book of Matthew chapter 9, I'm reading two verses, 28 and 29.

[00:00:57]Now, remember these are the two blind men.

[00:00:59]Two blind men who were following after Jesus crying out saying, "Son of David, have mercy on me." So, we go from verse 28. And when he had come into the house, the blind men came in to him. And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" And they said to him, "Yes, Lord."

[00:01:23]Then he touched their eyes saying, listen to this, "According to your faith let it be to you."

[00:01:34]Verse 30 says, "And their eyes were opened."

[00:01:38]And their eyes were opened. Be it according to your faith.

[00:01:42]That's what Jesus said.

[00:01:44]Said the same thing with Bartimaeus. He said the same thing many, many times.

[00:01:51]Be it according to your faith.

[00:01:53]Two blind men, "Lord, please heal us. Do you believe that I can heal you?" You see, that is the bottom line.

[00:02:01]Now, Luke chapter 17 and verse 5, the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Lord, please increase our faith."

[00:02:10]Now, I can hear somebody sitting there saying, "But how do you get faith?"

[00:02:16]Good question.

[00:02:18]Well, the answer is in the word of God.

[00:02:21]It's in the book of Romans chapter 10 verse 17.

[00:02:28]Now, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. That's how you get faith.

[00:02:36]Faith is not a abracadabra thing. It's not a kind of a a magic wand. It's nothing like that.

[00:02:42]Faith has got feet.

[00:02:46]Faith is a doing word. It's a verb. It's not a noun.

[00:02:50]A noun is like a table, isn't it? That's a noun.

[00:02:53]Faith is an active word.

[00:02:56]So, when you pray, you have to believe that what you are praying is going to happen.

[00:03:04]It's no good just praying, folks.

[00:03:06]And say, "Well, Lord, your will be done." Find out what the will of God is.

[00:03:11]And then pray accordingly. Those two blind men, they must have said, "The Lord didn't make us like this, so we are going to believe by faith that Jesus is going to heal us."

[00:03:22]And then Jesus Jesus said, "Do you believe I can do this?"

[00:03:26]And they said, "Yes, Lord, we believe you can do it."

[00:03:29]And he touched their eyes.

[00:03:31]And they were healed instantly and they got their sight back.

[00:03:35]Abraham is regarded in the Bible as the father of faith.

[00:03:43]Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness and he was known as the friend of God. I think he's the only man in the Bible where the Lord looked down from heaven and said, "You see that farmer, Abraham?

[00:03:59]He's my friend."

[00:04:01]Why? Because he was a good man? No.

[00:04:04]Abraham wasn't a good man, folks.

[00:04:07]Abraham was a man of faith.

[00:04:10]You know, when Abraham was on the road with his wife and all his people and Pharaoh's men intercepted him and they brought Abraham and Sarah to Pharaoh and Pharaoh looked at Sarah. Now, she was an old woman, but folks, she must have been a most beautiful lady because Pharaoh desired her.

[00:04:35]And Pharaoh said to Abraham, "Who is this woman?" He said, "She is my sister."

[00:04:42]Now, the reason why he said that was because if he had said, "This is my wife," Pharaoh would have killed Abraham because he wanted Sarah to be his wife.

[00:04:53]So, he said, "It's my sister." Now, I'm talking to men here watching this program. I don't know one man watching this program that would be prepared to pass off his wife as his sister to save his own skin.

[00:05:06]Abraham did it not once, he did it twice, in fact.

[00:05:11]So, he wasn't a good man.

[00:05:14]He was an ordinary person like you and me, but the difference was Abraham believed God.

[00:05:20]Not only did he believe God, but he obeyed God. See, that's the bottom line.

[00:05:27]Abraham obeyed God. When the Lord said to Abraham, "I want you to leave your farm." Apparently, he was a very, very rich man.

[00:05:36]Want you to leave your farm and I want you to go to an unknown destination.

[00:05:41]Abraham immediately packed up everything and he moved out.

[00:05:45]And his family and his workers must have said, "Where where are we going?" He He probably said, "I don't know, but God's told me I need to go."

[00:05:53]That's the kind of man Abraham was. When God said to Abraham, "I'm going to give you a son.

[00:05:59]And you are going to be the father of many nations. There will be more people than the grains of sand on the seashore.

[00:06:08]More. You going to have more children than the stars in the sky." Abraham was almost 100 years old, folks.

[00:06:16]He was long past the childbearing making age. His wife was a few years younger than me.

[00:06:24]They were old people.

[00:06:26]But folks, listen.

[00:06:32]If you got the faith to believe God, there is nothing which will be impossible for you to do.

[00:06:41]If you look at um the book of Genesis chapter 18 verse 14, God is having a conversation with Sarah.

[00:06:50]Sarah has been laughing, going behind the tent and giggling giggling the words the words he said.

[00:06:57]When God said, "You going to have a baby." She said, "Me? I'm nearly I'm nearly 100.

[00:07:02]How can I conceive?"

[00:07:05]And he went around the tent and he said to her, "Why are you laughing?" She said, "No, I'm not laughing." He said, "You are. You can read it. Read it in Genesis 18." That's why I love the Bible so much. It's so real.

[00:07:16]He said, "Is there anything too hard for me?"

[00:07:22]The answer is no, folks.

[00:07:24]I don't know what you're going through at the moment in your situation.

[00:07:28]I don't know if you're going through a problem in your marriage.

[00:07:32]I don't know if you're dealing with a child that's sick.

[00:07:35]I don't know if you're dealing with bankruptcy, but I'm telling you now, if you put your faith in God completely and you start to pray without ceasing.

[00:07:45]So, you pray when you're driving your motor car.

[00:07:48]You pray when you're walking.

[00:07:51]You pray when you're sitting. You pray, not out loud, in your heart.

[00:07:56]And I'm telling you God answers prayer.

[00:07:58]I can I've got too many stories to tell you. I don't have time to tell you all the miracles that have happened on this farm and in our lives. And and and I'm nothing special, that's for sure.

[00:08:10]So, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Start getting up in the morning and start spending real time in the presence of God and reading your Bible systematically.

[00:08:20]And that will build up your faith and then you can believe God for the impossible.

[00:08:25]And so, Abraham was told he was going to have a son.

[00:08:30]And Abraham waited for that son for over 20 years. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.

[00:08:38]Can you believe that? 100.

[00:08:41]His wife was just in her 90s.

[00:08:45]Beautiful, perfectly formed baby.

[00:08:48]And that was the beginning of Abraham's family.

[00:08:52]And if you are a follower of Jesus Christ watching this program with me as I am, you and I are children of Abraham.

[00:08:59]That's right.

[00:09:01]Folks, I want to tell you it's an amazing thing. It really is.

[00:09:05]But that's not the end of the story.

[00:09:07]What I want to tell you, which is very important, is when you step out onto that water by faith and say, "I'm going to trust God." It's not going to necessarily go easy. Remember when Peter, he said to the Lord Jesus, when Jesus was standing on the water, he said, "Lord, call me and I'll come." And by faith, okay, by faith, Peter stepped out of the boat and he walked on water. And so, he started to walk towards Jesus and then what happened? Just in an instant, he took his eyes off the Lord and he looked at the waves and his faith started to disappear and he started sinking. "Lord, help me." And Jesus stepped forward and pulled him out of the water and he said, "Oh, you have little faith." I want to say to you, when you walk the faith road, it's not an easy road. It's a rough road.

[00:09:56]It's very steep.

[00:09:58]It's full of rocks, and there are very few people walking on that same route.

[00:10:03]So, it gets lonely, and people even perceive you to be stupid.

[00:10:07]Oh, yes.

[00:10:09]They said it to me not once, not twice, many times.

[00:10:13]But you know, at the end of the day, God speaks.

[00:10:17]I believe in miracles. I have to.

[00:10:20]He's done too many miracles in my life for me not to believe.

[00:10:25]Now, that's not the end of the story, is it? No.

[00:10:29]Because you see, Isaac grew up into a beautiful young boy. I'm assuming he must have been about 13 years old. I don't know. Nobody knows.

[00:10:38]A lot of people tell you he was older. I don't know. Let's say he was a teenager.

[00:10:43]And one day, the Lord said, to test Abraham's faith yet again, he says, "Now, I want your son back.

[00:10:53]I want you to go up to Mount Moriah.

[00:10:55]That is where this the temple was built in Jerusalem. The very spot.

[00:11:03]There's a rock inside there. It's a It's a um a a Muslim site now, the the golden dome, but inside there there's a rock, and on that rock is where Abraham offered up Isaac as a living sacrifice, that same rock.

[00:11:23]So, he took a donkey, he took firewood, and he went up with his son, and a helper, up to the mountain. They walked, "Where are we going, Dad?" "No, I'm taking you on a journey. I'll tell you when we get there."

[00:11:39]Can you imagine?

[00:11:40]The Lord said, "I want him back."

[00:11:43]He didn't hesitate. He didn't argue. He didn't say, "Give me another few years."

[00:11:47]No, straight away.

[00:11:49]Off we go.

[00:11:51]He got to the base of the mountain, told the helper to stand there, look after the donkey, and he took a firewood, and he took his son, and the coals, to the top of Mount Moriah, and he made an altar to sacrifice his son.

[00:12:09]"Dad, what are you doing?" "No, it's all right."

[00:12:12]He tied his son up. He put him on the altar. He took a sharp knife, and he was about to slit his throat.

[00:12:19]And at that moment, there was a bleating in the thicket.

[00:12:24]Another miracle.

[00:12:26]And the Lord sent his angel to say, "Don't do that, Abraham.

[00:12:30]Leave the boy. Take that ram that has been caught in the thicket, and offer up that ram as a sacrifice." Which he did.

[00:12:38]If you look at that scripture in Genesis, you'll be you'll be brought to tears. You know, God loved Abraham so much.

[00:12:48]I don't think he thanked him once. I think it's three times that Abraham was prepared to give God the thing that he loved the most, and give it to him willingly and freely.

[00:13:00]He'd never seen such love as this.

[00:13:02]And that is why he's known as the friend of God.

[00:13:06]Many of us, folks, have promised God things, and we've never come up with them, have we?

[00:13:10]Well, we need to start obeying God. Two things, faith and obedience are the two requirements if you want to be used mightily by the Lord Jesus Christ.

[00:13:22]Faith and obedience.

[00:13:26]It's mind-blowing when you see what God can do if you walk by faith and not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7.

[00:13:34]We walk by faith and not by sight.

[00:13:38]It's never a walk in the park. It's not easy. I can tell you right now. And I'm not insinuating by a by any chance that I'm getting there.

[00:13:47]I'm still far away.

[00:13:49]But by the grace of God, I'm moving forward.

[00:13:53]The secret is prayer.

[00:13:56]Prayer, prayer, and more prayer.

[00:13:59]People always ask me, "How does it happen with you?

[00:14:01]You went to Cape Town. There was no rain for 2 years.

[00:14:05]You called a meeting on the on the sand dunes in Mitchells Plain, one of the most dangerous places on earth, actually.

[00:14:13]And 250,000 people turned up, and you prayed, and in the middle of the meeting, it started raining. It hadn't been raining for 2 years.

[00:14:21]And that dam that massive dam that feeds Cape Town was filled up in about a few months when they said it would take years.

[00:14:28]It's a miracle. But I want to tell you, before we got to the meeting, and before it started raining in the middle of the meeting, we went through a lot.

[00:14:37]I went to hell and back again. And you know, the biggest pressure you often get is from the believers.

[00:14:43]And that's a sad thing.

[00:14:45]"Who do you think you are?"

[00:14:47]"Who do you think you are to come and tell us?" Same thing happened in Port Elizabeth. They had no water there, either. We prayed there. That dam filled up. It's overflowing even as I talk to you now.

[00:14:57]And it was drying up. It was a puddle.

[00:14:59]I can tell you about miracles. That woman in that hut, 80 other ladies were with her in that hut.

[00:15:05]They said she was dead.

[00:15:08]They told me to pray for her. I prayed for her twice, and God raised her up.

[00:15:12]You can believe me, or you can tell me I'm a liar.

[00:15:16]But you can't argue with me because you weren't there.

[00:15:20]I really want to say to you today, we have got to start to trust God.

[00:15:25]Now, I'm not saying that you have to trust God for the parting of the Red Sea, or bringing fire down onto Mount Carmel, and burning up the sacrifice and the and the stones, and then 450 prophets of the devil getting slaughtered. I'm not saying that.

[00:15:43]A miracle is a miracle. Doesn't matter whether it's small or big. But if you want to be a man or woman who's going to trust God and walk by faith, you've got to believe.

[00:15:53]If you can't believe, you can go to Bible college for the rest of your life.

[00:15:57]You can have a PhD. You can have a DD.

[00:16:00]You can be a doctor of divinity.

[00:16:03]You can know this book inside out. That doesn't give you faith. That makes you a history teacher.

[00:16:09]You've got to meet the man from Galilee.

[00:16:12]His name is Jesus Christ. He's more real to to me, my dear friend, than you sitting and watching this program. I really mean that.

[00:16:22]I know him. Why? Because he has never once disappointed me. He has never once let me down. He's always been there for me.

[00:16:32]And you see, faith grows.

[00:16:35]It starts off.

[00:16:36]If you're an evangelist and you have got the anointing of God to pray for the sick. When I started, I was praying for people who had colds.

[00:16:44]And that's not a joke, okay?

[00:16:46]Snotty nose, flu.

[00:16:49]And then as we see miracles start happening, you start trusting him for more. I've seen people get out of wheelchairs and walk. I've seen blind eyes open, just like those two blind men. Not me, Christ doing it.

[00:17:00]Me, purely just a vessel.

[00:17:03]I've seen it with my eyes. I've seen un- people who are stone deaf get their sight back. I've seen it.

[00:17:09]People who can't speak get their voice back again. I've seen it.

[00:17:14]Now, I want to tell you something.

[00:17:16]Early this morning, when I was preparing this very message for you, I was saying, "Lord, I need a practical illustration for my friends.

[00:17:27]It's all very well me telling stories of what happened in the days of the Israelites being released from Egypt, but people need up-to-date stories."

[00:17:37]And you won't believe it.

[00:17:39]>> [laughter] >> You will believe it.

[00:17:42]I've got a message on my phone just as I was about to walk out of my prayer room and come onto the set, cuz my little house is just down the road there, off of Columbine Road.

[00:17:53]And this is what the story was. "Angus, do you remember when we had the campaign in Krugersdorp called Speak Jesus?

[00:18:08]We have just had a testimony again from one of the ushers that was there.

[00:18:14]Nobody on the platform, not Uncle Angus, no. I was the speaker, but listen to what happened.

[00:18:21]This usher said that he was in charge of directing the traffic.

[00:18:26]And there was a lot of pedestrians walking across the road, so he had to stop the motor cars so that they could get across. And while he had done that, one of just out of the blue, one of the pedestrians, and there were lots of people there, multitudes. It was an open-air campaign.

[00:18:42]Walked over to this usher and said, "I have just picked up a bunch of keys.

[00:18:48]It looks like it's a Mercedes-Benz. It had like a leather thong on it, as well.

[00:18:53]Could you maybe take the keys and ask them to make an announcement to the crowd if anybody has lost a key."

[00:19:00]And he said, "Sure, I will. Thank you very much." And he took the keys, and he put the keys in his pocket, and he carried on directing the traffic, and he got a bit caught up with all the people.

[00:19:11]About 40 minutes later, when the service was coming to a conclusion, and people were starting to leave, picking up their deck chairs, and their cool boxes, and their blankets, and they were starting to leave back to their motor cars from the the the the hillside where we had the event.

[00:19:33]He was talking to somebody, and somebody else came and pulled his shirt, said, "Excuse me. Excuse me."

[00:19:40]Quite a desperate guy. And he turned around, he said, "Can I Can I help you?" He said, "Yes, please."

[00:19:46]He said, "I have lost my keys. It's a Mercedes-Benz with a leather fob on it.

[00:19:57]Do you know if anybody has found them?

[00:20:01]Now, there were many ushers there, folks. Many ushers.

[00:20:05]This man said, "I've got your keys."

[00:20:08]And he put his hand in his pocket and he gave this poor guy who was so upset his keys. The man said, "That is amazing. Thank you." He said, "I want to tell you something."

[00:20:19]He said, "Just half an hour ago there was an altar call for people to give their lives to Jesus Christ.

[00:20:27]I gave my life to the Lord.

[00:20:30]And as I left the meeting and I was walking towards my car, I realized I I haven't got my keys."

[00:20:38]And he said, "I'm talking about folks, I'm talking about a Christian who's like 20 minutes old.

[00:20:44]>> [laughter] >> You talk about a newly born baby.

[00:20:48]And he said to the Lord, "Lord, I've just given my life to you.

[00:20:54]Lord, I want you to confirm to me that what I did was for real and that you are for real.

[00:21:03]Lord, I don't have my keys." Now, he's praying while he's walking.

[00:21:08]He said, "If you are a miracle working God and if you are the living God, the first person wait for it, the first person that I walk up to is going to have those car keys of mine.

[00:21:25]And then I will know beyond any shadow of a doubt that you are alive and that you are real."

[00:21:31]And he walked straight to that usher in the crowd, massive crowd, straight up to that one man, first man.

[00:21:38]"Do you have my keys?" He says, "Here's your keys."

[00:21:41]I want to say something to you. That man, I don't know who he is, I don't even know that man has got no excuse to ever doubt the reality of a living Jesus Christ. Now, what about you? Where are you standing today?

[00:21:59]You might say, "I've been walking with the Lord for 40 years, but my faith is growing cold because of the cares of this world and I need to get back to the simplicity like that man, that new believer, brand spanking new believer."

[00:22:11]I want to pray for you. Close your eyes, please.

[00:22:13]And pray this prayer with me. Dear Lord Jesus, I repent. I'm sorry for having a heart of unbelief.

[00:22:25]Today, I reaffirm my faith in you.

[00:22:31]I choose to believe that you are the living God and there is none other.

[00:22:38]And Lord Jesus, please increase my faith.

[00:22:42]The same prayer that the disciples prayed in Luke chapter 17 verse five.

[00:22:48]I ask this in your precious name. Amen.

[00:22:52]May God bless you until we meet again.

[00:22:54]Keep trusting the Lord. Goodbye.

[00:22:58]Thank you for watching today's message [music] by Angus Buchan. We trust that you were blessed. For more information about [music] Shalom Ministries or upcoming events, please visit angusbuchan.co.za.

[00:23:13]Have you downloaded the free Uncle Angus mobile app yet? You can enjoy more messages like this as [music] well as exclusive content direct to your device.

[00:23:24]See you next time. Goodbye.