Immaturity Hebrews 5:9-14
How would you define immaturity?
I. Dull of hearing.
A. This word dull means slow or sluggish of hearing or of ears.
B. Are we hearing God’s word, or are we listening to God’s word?
C. Are we sluggish to perform our duties for God because we do not pay attention?
D. The author says “Of whom we have many things to say…”
E. Whom is he talking about?
F. Jesus Christ.
G. There are many things to be said about Jesus Christ, but who will hear them? Who will listen to them?
H. Do sluggish ears make for sluggish action?
II. There is a time for us to be teachers.
A. Verse 12-“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers…”
B. Does the time for you to be a teacher ever end?
C. It is good to be taught, but if you have the ability to teach, it is your time to teach.
D. This is where immaturity can creep in.
E. Immaturity as a child of God is inexcusable.
F. Why is this inexcusable? Because we can read and understand God’s word.
G. We can study God’s word on our own.
H. Do you know that when I say that such and such word is translated to mean such and such, it is not because of my ability to speak Greek or Hebrew, it is because I have dictionaries that any one can buy.
I. Does this mean that we can stay home and not come to church? No.
J. We have the need to be taught again, and are one that needs milk and not strong meat.
K. Milk here is representative of rudimentary spiritual teaching.
L. I have something much more powerful that the dictionary to help with God’s word, I John 2:27-says that the Holy Spirit with lead and guide us in God’s word. Even the newest convert.
M. Milk is what a church starts out teaching a child. Meat is what maturing Christians need.
III. Are you an infant?
A. If the above verse describes you, you are an infant in Christ.
B. Not even a small child, but an infant.
C. Verse 13 says that if we are on milk, and not meat, we are unskillful in the words of righteousness.
D. We should all strive to further our Christian education, whether it is by seminary or by studying on our own. We should devour the Sunday School lessons.
IV. Are we full of age?
A. This is not speaking of literal age, but in Christian age.
B. Are we aging progressively in God’s word?
C. Are we able to discern what is true from what is false?
D. Are we able to teach God’s word to others?
E. If everyone was a babe or infant in Christ, who would teach?
F. Someone has to step up and say I will teach God’s word to others.
G. Are your senses exercised?
H. Exercise improves physical capabilities. Exercising our spirits improves spiritual capabilities.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Tonight's Sermon- Sin is a Heavy Burden
Psalm 38:1-4 Sin is a Heavy Burden
When you sin, do you feel the shame and the guilt that a child of God feels? Does it weigh you down or burden you? Do you continue to live in this sin?
I. Rebuke me not in thy wrath.
A. The Psalmist knew that he had sinned.
B. He understood that God chastens his children.
C. He was pleading that God’s wrath would be removed from the chastening.
D. Translated he is saying, “Correct me not in thy rage.”
E. Just like children today, and when I was a child. We did not mind the punishment so much, but we did not want to hear how upset or disappointed our parents were.
F. He asks again that he not be chastened in God’s hot displeasures.
G. He is saying don’t punish me furiously.
H. The sin he has committed he is afraid will anger God. Are we afraid that we are going to anger God with our sin?
I. God is long suffering and forgiving, but chastening does happen to his children.
II. Arrows of God.
A. These are figurative arrows.
B. These arrows appear to be brought about by the Psalmist being convicted because of his sin.
C. Do we heed to the conviction of the Holy Spirit?
D. Does this conviction affect us at all?
E. We know, as a child of God, when we have sinned. We understand the consequences, so why do we go ahead and sin?
F. Sin nature. The flesh. Letting Satan influence us.
G. We feel these same arrows that David did. We experience the shame and guilt of our sin.
H. He tells God that his hand presses down on him. He is broken because of the conviction he was feeling.
I. We can avoid being broken and pressed down by allowing the spirit to control our lives.
III. We cannot be happy if we are a child of God living in sin.
A. We cannot be complete or have any wholesome in us if we are at odds with God and his word.
B. We have no rest.
C. This word rest is translated as peace.
D. We have no peace or rest when we are living in sin.
E. This sin that the Psalmist mentions is habitual sinfulness.
F. Something that is repeated over and over, or not being able to stop sinning.
G. If we are happy in sin, we need to evaluate our salvation.
IV. Have we sinned so much that sin is becoming our way of life.
A. The Psalmist says that his sin have gone over his head.
B. He has sinned so much that, or his sin was so great, that they were over his head.
C. They were great.
D. Have you ever heard the phrase I have had it up to here.
E. The Psalmist’s sin was so great or so many, that they were up to here.
F. They were over him and weighing him down. They were a burden to carry.
G. Does your sin ever get this way?
H. Are we happy in sin, or are we burdened down, pressed down by it.
When you sin, do you feel the shame and the guilt that a child of God feels? Does it weigh you down or burden you? Do you continue to live in this sin?
I. Rebuke me not in thy wrath.
A. The Psalmist knew that he had sinned.
B. He understood that God chastens his children.
C. He was pleading that God’s wrath would be removed from the chastening.
D. Translated he is saying, “Correct me not in thy rage.”
E. Just like children today, and when I was a child. We did not mind the punishment so much, but we did not want to hear how upset or disappointed our parents were.
F. He asks again that he not be chastened in God’s hot displeasures.
G. He is saying don’t punish me furiously.
H. The sin he has committed he is afraid will anger God. Are we afraid that we are going to anger God with our sin?
I. God is long suffering and forgiving, but chastening does happen to his children.
II. Arrows of God.
A. These are figurative arrows.
B. These arrows appear to be brought about by the Psalmist being convicted because of his sin.
C. Do we heed to the conviction of the Holy Spirit?
D. Does this conviction affect us at all?
E. We know, as a child of God, when we have sinned. We understand the consequences, so why do we go ahead and sin?
F. Sin nature. The flesh. Letting Satan influence us.
G. We feel these same arrows that David did. We experience the shame and guilt of our sin.
H. He tells God that his hand presses down on him. He is broken because of the conviction he was feeling.
I. We can avoid being broken and pressed down by allowing the spirit to control our lives.
III. We cannot be happy if we are a child of God living in sin.
A. We cannot be complete or have any wholesome in us if we are at odds with God and his word.
B. We have no rest.
C. This word rest is translated as peace.
D. We have no peace or rest when we are living in sin.
E. This sin that the Psalmist mentions is habitual sinfulness.
F. Something that is repeated over and over, or not being able to stop sinning.
G. If we are happy in sin, we need to evaluate our salvation.
IV. Have we sinned so much that sin is becoming our way of life.
A. The Psalmist says that his sin have gone over his head.
B. He has sinned so much that, or his sin was so great, that they were over his head.
C. They were great.
D. Have you ever heard the phrase I have had it up to here.
E. The Psalmist’s sin was so great or so many, that they were up to here.
F. They were over him and weighing him down. They were a burden to carry.
G. Does your sin ever get this way?
H. Are we happy in sin, or are we burdened down, pressed down by it.
A Aervant Worth His/Her Salt
This is the Message I am preaching this morning:
A Servant Worth His/Her Salt
Why serve God with only half of our abilities? If we are not going to do it all the way, why do it at all? God deserves our best. God demands our best. God commands our best.
I. Salt.
A. Salt became emblematic of fidelity and friendship among eastern nations. It was thought of this way because of its purifying and antiseptic qualities.
B. It is symbolic of that spiritual health and vigor essential to Christian virtue and counteractive of the corruption that is in the world.
C. In other words, if we are the salt of the earth, then we need to be an example to the world. They need to be able to see our servitude to God.
D. If the salt has lost its savour, or become foolish enough to not let the world see Christ in us, then we might as well be cast away, or trodden under foot.
E. Let this be a warning to any child of God. Do not lose your savour, when your savor is lost, God has no use for us.
F. If you cut up a big red juicy tomato, and get the salt out, and pour salt on the tomato, then take a bite and the salt has no flavor what are you going to do? Throw the salt out and get some more.
G. If we are not serving God with all of our salt, God will use someone that is.
II. You are the light of the world.
A. This world lives in the darkness of Satan.
B. John 3:19, “ And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
C. Jesus is calling us light, and this means that he is calling us witnesses for God in the world.
D. But, men love darkness rather than light. The light they see should be Jesus in us.
E. It is easy to hide in the dark.
F. When we are away from God and doing our own thing, we like to be with people whi are doing those things also.
G. We are hiding among them hoping no one will notice.
H.. Jesus lights us up with his glory, so instead of hiding among the darkness so no one can see, we are to show that light to the sin darkened world.
I. Are you a servant today who can show the light of Christ to the world?
III. Don’t hide your light.
A. What good would it do to hide the light of Christ?
B. What kind of servant would that make us?
C. Christ says here what good would it do to light a candle and hide it under a bush?
D. This is a basic Pre-K Sunday School song.
E. This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.
F. Jesus says in verse 16 to “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven.”
G. The light is to shine for the glory of God, when others see our good works.You see, it is not about us, but about him.
Matthew 5:13-
A Servant Worth His/Her Salt
Why serve God with only half of our abilities? If we are not going to do it all the way, why do it at all? God deserves our best. God demands our best. God commands our best.
I. Salt.
A. Salt became emblematic of fidelity and friendship among eastern nations. It was thought of this way because of its purifying and antiseptic qualities.
B. It is symbolic of that spiritual health and vigor essential to Christian virtue and counteractive of the corruption that is in the world.
C. In other words, if we are the salt of the earth, then we need to be an example to the world. They need to be able to see our servitude to God.
D. If the salt has lost its savour, or become foolish enough to not let the world see Christ in us, then we might as well be cast away, or trodden under foot.
E. Let this be a warning to any child of God. Do not lose your savour, when your savor is lost, God has no use for us.
F. If you cut up a big red juicy tomato, and get the salt out, and pour salt on the tomato, then take a bite and the salt has no flavor what are you going to do? Throw the salt out and get some more.
G. If we are not serving God with all of our salt, God will use someone that is.
II. You are the light of the world.
A. This world lives in the darkness of Satan.
B. John 3:19, “ And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
C. Jesus is calling us light, and this means that he is calling us witnesses for God in the world.
D. But, men love darkness rather than light. The light they see should be Jesus in us.
E. It is easy to hide in the dark.
F. When we are away from God and doing our own thing, we like to be with people whi are doing those things also.
G. We are hiding among them hoping no one will notice.
H.. Jesus lights us up with his glory, so instead of hiding among the darkness so no one can see, we are to show that light to the sin darkened world.
I. Are you a servant today who can show the light of Christ to the world?
III. Don’t hide your light.
A. What good would it do to hide the light of Christ?
B. What kind of servant would that make us?
C. Christ says here what good would it do to light a candle and hide it under a bush?
D. This is a basic Pre-K Sunday School song.
E. This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.
F. Jesus says in verse 16 to “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven.”
G. The light is to shine for the glory of God, when others see our good works.You see, it is not about us, but about him.
Matthew 5:13-
Friday, October 22, 2010
Our Country As I See It
There is some mix up every now and then on some of our forefathers who founded this country. Their religious beliefs are sometimes misconstrued to make a point. That being said, America was founded on the principle of freedom. I believe that both sides of the argument take the extreme point of view on the Constitution to allow for the freedom of religion and the separation of church and state. It is difficult so many years later to determine intent in the constitution, because we were not there. I do not personally believe that the separation of church and state is meant to be taken to the extreme that it is now. That extreme is allowing any religion but Christianity the freedom to do and say what they please, as long as they do not break any laws. Christianity is so closely monitored by the government (separation only applies on the church's side), that even any mention of political events can allow the government to withdraw tax exempt status form a church. To some extent, this Christianity's fault. There have been many crooked people who have called themselves believers who have destroyed and brought shame on Christians worldwide. Christianity has a bad reputation from history for fighting and being at war etc.
So this freedom extends to others who can say anything about Christianity that they please. Any form of put down or degrading remark, or any attempt to make Christianity look bad is seen as a medal of honor in media circles. Juan Williams is fired from Public Radio Network because he said that sometimes when he is on a plane and sees someone in "Muslim Garb" it scares him a little inside. I believe that probably every American would feel this way, even though we know the people are probably just flying somewhere. This has been called racial profiling and that is one of the reasons that he was fired. First, this is not racial profiling. Islam is not a race of people, it is a religion. Second, if a few Christans can bring suspicion on all Christianity, then why can't a few Muslims make people feel afraid every now and then. It is a logical reaction that has nothing to do with race only with what happened on 9/11. I know that not all Muslims were not involved in 9/11. All Christians were not involved in the crusades or in televangelist's misbehavings either.
Christianity as a whole, has been full of judging others and living like hypocrites. This causes people to want to make Christianity look bad. Christians do a fine job of this by themselves. I fear that as a believer, I may not have much longer to share the gospel message out in the open in America. Especially when the government is trying to make preaching about sin hate speech. It is time for Christians to show others love and affection. Time is drawing to a close, and we need to be able to witness to as many people as we can.
So this freedom extends to others who can say anything about Christianity that they please. Any form of put down or degrading remark, or any attempt to make Christianity look bad is seen as a medal of honor in media circles. Juan Williams is fired from Public Radio Network because he said that sometimes when he is on a plane and sees someone in "Muslim Garb" it scares him a little inside. I believe that probably every American would feel this way, even though we know the people are probably just flying somewhere. This has been called racial profiling and that is one of the reasons that he was fired. First, this is not racial profiling. Islam is not a race of people, it is a religion. Second, if a few Christans can bring suspicion on all Christianity, then why can't a few Muslims make people feel afraid every now and then. It is a logical reaction that has nothing to do with race only with what happened on 9/11. I know that not all Muslims were not involved in 9/11. All Christians were not involved in the crusades or in televangelist's misbehavings either.
Christianity as a whole, has been full of judging others and living like hypocrites. This causes people to want to make Christianity look bad. Christians do a fine job of this by themselves. I fear that as a believer, I may not have much longer to share the gospel message out in the open in America. Especially when the government is trying to make preaching about sin hate speech. It is time for Christians to show others love and affection. Time is drawing to a close, and we need to be able to witness to as many people as we can.
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