Sunday, August 17, 2008

A Great Sermon


When I posted the other day about Bible Lessons I had no idea what the sermon I heard today was going to be about!

It was based on Hebrews 5:11-6:20 which calls for us to grow up in our faith and addresses the whole church. Here are a few bits from this awesome sermon....

Some Christians are content to be spiritual infants.

There are four signs of being a spiritual infant.
1) Sluggish with regard to hearing. By actions we need to show we are hearing.
2) We need to be teachers not just listeners. That is the second phase of learning - learning through teaching. People should be taught by the example of our lives. We should be able to speak about our faith, share it and defend it.
3) Unskillful in word of righteousness and discipleship. Uncommitted to being a disciple.
4) Lack of discerning power. Difficulty discerning good from evil, right from wrong.

We need to move forward and become mature or fall back and leave the faith.

Elementary teachings mentioned in this passage are -
Repentance, Faith in God, Instruction in baptism, Laying on of hands, Resurrection of the dead and Judgement. Mature Christians should not need instruction in these things.

Sadly some stay in the basic teachings.

We need to strive for maturity if not it is backsliding. Like a canoe being paddled in a current either you strive to move forward or you go backwards.

Some feel that they can pick and choose which scriptures to follow and which don't apply. They think it is o.k. to treat the Word of God cheaply.

Romans 8:38,39 and John 10:27-30 give us assurance of our salvation.

We should never take our salvation for granted. Some feel they can do whatever they like and not try and dig out sin from their lives because they are saved. However if someone keeps following sin and not changing they are thumbing their nose at God.

Moving Forward -
Heb. 6:10 - Think of God and our first love.
Heb. 6:11,12 - Persevere to the end, don't be lazy.
Heb. 6:13-20- Look for promise and hope from God, be patient and be faithful. Rest in the knowledge of God and His knowledge of us.
Heb. 6:19,20- Stand on the Rock of Christ.

Now these are just some of the notes I took this morning so I hope they make some sense! ~smile~ It was a wonderful sermon and I just wanted to share a bit of it with you.

Blessings,
Liisa

2 comments:

Traci @ The Bakery said...

I'm telling you that God has brought us together....we were just talking about this at Bible study! I call it spiritually retarded...for lack of a better term.
We would assume a child has a learning problem if they never grew and developed.....why don't we when it comes to spiritual growth? Sheesh....it isn't hard to see whether you are growing or not....why do some people not SEE IT? I have lost some dear friends because I've outgrown them....now don't get me wrong...we are still "friends", just not FRIENDS...does that make sense?

Liisa said...

That is amazing that you have been talking about this as well. Your example of a child with a learning problem reminds me of one other point the pastor made which is that everyone loves babies, they are sweet and they depend on you for everything, they look up at you with that look of completely dependance. Now if your 35 year old son looked at you that same way would it be the same? No it would be sad because they have not grown and matured into the adult they should be.

It is amazing how we seem to be going through the same things at the same time!

Blessings,
Liisa