Riverside, Calif. (Jan. 29, 2019) – A person’s greatest goal should to be to please God through faith, pastor Daniel Bishop told a California Baptist University chapel audience on Jan. 29.

“Have dreams, change the world, be successful at what you do,” Bishop said. “But it doesn’t matter what you accomplish in your life, if you’re not faithful to God.”

Bishop (’06) is lead pastor at The Grove Community Church in Riverside and adjunct professor of Christian studies at CBU. Bishop expounded on Hebrews 11, noting that each person mentioned in the chapter was called to be faithful, and they all faced different struggles.

“God is going to ask you to step out in faith in some way in some point in your life,” Bishop said.

It takes faith to please God, to believe, to seek him and to earn a reward, Bishop said.

“It takes faith to seek God every single day,” Bishop said. “Some of your greatest acts of faithfulness will be moments when you feel lost, when you’re scared, when you’re going through the mundane days of life and you have to wrestle your emotions down to the ground and you say, ‘God, I need you and I’m going to follow you.’”

Some people try to be faithful simply to get what they want from God, Bishop said. The people listed in Hebrews 11 had a different viewpoint, he added.

“They weren’t focused on the immediate results. Instead, their faith rested on a promise that would come in the future,” Bishop said. “You will face trials in your life. The one thing that will carry you through is your faith. This is not all that we have here on this earth.”

People also need to realize that every person’s faith mission is different, Bishop said.

“Your faith in God may deliver you from the trial or your faith in God may put you right in the middle of the trial,” Bishop said.

“These people [in Hebrews 11] did their part; they helped bring God’s mission along. Now it’s our turn to be faithful,” Bishop continued. “It’s not over. God still has work to be done. He has things for you to do in your life to continue his plan.”