The Power of Expectant Faith

Preaching from Mark 9:14–29 (the boy freed from a demonic spirit after Jesus comes down from the Mount of Transfiguration), Ps. Scott unpacks a prophetic word he believes God is speaking to Newlife Coolangatta in this season: increase your expectation and faith.The crowd ran to Jesus expecting a miracle. The father, despite the disciples' failed attempt, still brought his son believing Jesus could do something — praying the honest tension of "I believe; help my unbelief." The disciples, by contrast, couldn't cast out the spirit because of "little faith." Jesus points out that demons obey Him instantly, every time—yet believers often don't, revealing our own unbelief.We come to church with worldly expectations (comfort, entertainment, preference) instead of godly ones (encountering God's power). Like children who trust their parents without doubt, we're called to childlike faith—and to fight doubt with truth rather than deny doubt exists. Prayer and fasting are presented as the practical path back to that childlike posture, individually and as a church.The sermon closes with a challenge: would Jesus find Newlife Coolangatta a place of faith where He moves in power, or one held back by unbelief?—and an invitation to pursue prayer and fasting together as a church.