The centurion looked at the teacher who sat before him and was struck by the authority that emanated from him. "Rabbi, I have heard many great things about you and I know you are a teacher sent from God. My servant, whom I love, is very sick, almost unto death. I know that you can heal him if you will."

Jesus said, "I will come and heal him."

"Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed! I know, because I am under the authority of my superior officers and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, 'Go,' and they go, or 'Come,' and they come. And if I say to my servants, 'Do this or that,' they do it."

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd, he said to them, "I tell you the truth, I haven't seen faith like this in all the land of Israel!"

Jesus then turned to the centurion and said, "Go on home. What you have believed has happened."

Faith. The writer of Hebrews defines it as "the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen." Jesus once told his disciples that the smallest amount of faith could bring about tremendous results, even to move mountains. But what does faith look like? Across the gospels are seven poignant stories of people who demonstrated a faith that dramatically changed not only their lives, but the lives of the people around them. A Grain of Mustard Seed presents these stories in a new expanded version as well as an eighth story that raises the question: What if all of these people met the Savior one last time?

--Steve Tyner

Purchase this title at any of these retailers: