When you think of freedom, what comes to your mind?
Our nation of freedom?
Spiritual freedom?
Without the freedom in Christ, not one of us is truly free.
Sin is a trap that ensnares us for a lifetime of physical punishment bearing the wrath of eternal consequences, but the blood of the Lamb of God (John 1.29) is that which gives us the opportunity to achieve freedom. The opportunity is ever present, but each individual must clothe himself/herself with the Savior (Galatians 3.27).
Today, the question for Christians may not be “do we have freedom” but a greater question of “what do we do with our freedom?”
Each person can recognize freedom, but the actions one takes as a result of freedom truly makes freedom appreciated. Without actions as a result of freedom, we are still spinning our wheels searching for the answer that only resides in God’s words to mankind, “You will know the truth and the truth will make you free” (John 8.32).
The truth of the Savior is the truth of the Father. The Son seeking to glorify the Father while on earth (and be glorified Himself) prays the powerful words of John 17. In the text of that beautiful prayer Jesus said, “Sanctify them in truth; your word is truth.” (John 17.17)
The Savior asked His Father to sanctify them, to set them apart by the truth. As a result of truth, freedom is found in the words of truth – God’s word.
As a Christian, you have found freedom and truth, but what are you doing with that freedom and truth today? Are you sharing the message of breaking free from the bondage of sin to glorify your Father? Are you sharing the message with those still ensnared by sins dreadful hold?
While we recognize freedom, let us take action on that freedom and share it with the world!
“Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.” (1 Peter 2.16; ESV)
A few years ago I ran across a small article on the California Redwood trees that intrigued me. Here is one statement form the article:
“The huge redwood trees in California are considered the largest things on earth and the tallest trees in the world. Some of them are three hundred feet high and over 2,500 years old. One would think that trees so large would have a tremendous root system reaching down hundreds of feet into the earth. The redwoods actually have a very shallow system of roots, but they all intertwine. They are locked to each other. When the storms come or the winds blow, the redwoods stand. They are locked to each other, and they don’t stand alone, for all the trees support and protect each other.”
The church is like the redwood trees; or maybe, better still, the redwood trees are like the church. When the storms of life rage against us, we reach out to one another to help bear the burden of the storm. Like the intertwined roots of a redwood tree, our lives are connected by the Savior, Jesus Christ.
As Christians, we want to follow the pattern of the early church because they were the starting point to where we are as a family. When they met on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus, they bonded instantly. They saw a need to assist one another as well as continuing in the apostles teaching (Acts 2:42-47).
The early church grew because of the continuation of the early church in the things the apostles taught them and I believe one of those things was the unity of the church. Jesus prayed for unity, because He wants everyone united, but also, because the bond of Christians is what helps us to achieve the peace that passes understanding.
Let us unite together to begin to change the world!
The spiritual life of a Christian is never stagnant; if it is not growing, then it is decreasing. There is no middle ground where a Christian’s spiritual life can remain at one point, there must be movement. This movement is determined by our actions. Peter writes of the spiritual maturing process…
“For this very reason, “make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1.5-8; ESV)
As a member of the body of Christ, when we are growing spiritually it will naturally affect others. When we grow we begin sharing the burdens of others (Galatians 6.1; Romans 15.1), we edify one another (Hebrews 3.13), we teach others (Titus 2) and we begin sharing the word with others because we cannot help but speak of Jesus (Acts 4.12).
Because our spiritual growth affects others, here is a list below of “Four Marks of a Maturing Congregation” for your consideration.
What would you add to the list?
Four Marks of a Maturing Congregation:
Fellowship – Members know each other outside of Sundays and Wednesday.
Assistance – Because the members are bearing one another’s burdens, have knowledge of each other, and progress towards the same goal, assistance is given without a shocking announcement to the congregation. (Galatians 6.1; Romans 15.1)
Attendance – The numbers game is a difficult one to play with attendance, but a maturing congregation will have high attendance based on membership because people are coming (1) to worship and study God’s word, (2) to edify the brothers and sisters and (3) to continue on their spiritual process of growing closer to God. (Note: Hebrews 10.24-25 – Remember verse 24 is the beginning and reason for verse 25)
Finances – The church in Macedonia gave “beyond their means of their own accord” (2 Corinthians 8.3). The church in Macedonia knew how much they could give and they gave beyond it. I believe this is a sign of maturity because the Macedonians knew there was a greater purpose to finances than physical stuff.
By the time you read this another app on your phone or computer will be facing another update. For some, this means nothing, but for others you will understand it will mean an adjustment to learning the new system and all of its bells, whistles and frustrations.
Every new update usually means another set of bumps and issues. Due to the quickly expanding world of technology, many software manufactures try to quickly get their product into the market and as a result, they can complicate something to the point of angered frustration.
After putting up with several technological issues, I am thankful that God made the plan to live with him simple. Take a moment and read Habakkuk 2:2 and see that God wanted His message written plainly.
“Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.”
There is not a technological aspect to the plan God has shown to man through His Son Jesus. God knew man would not be able to save himself, because we were created to make our own choices and in such cases, we choose to leave the foundational principles of the Word of God and make our own path. Salvation through God is simple, but sometimes man creates the problem.
Consider those on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. Each person was committed to following God because they had made the journey from other regions to be there for the Pentecost celebration. While celebrating the feast, Peter (along with the 11) became a Spirit-filled spokesman for the Almighty God. The message was personal and pointed. During Peter’s message, the people realize, “What shall we do?” Peter’s answer was simple and pointed.
Peter’s words were…
(1) Repent
(2) Be baptized.
God plan is simple because He wants all me to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth. (1 Timothy 2:4)
I am glad God’s plan is not technical, but simple.
I hope every member considers one another this morning. There will be someone at services who has had a horrible week and will not tell anyone. They will put on a face of joy, but deep down their heart breaks. I wonder if they will ask their spiritual family to pray for them. (Hebrews 3:13)
I hope someone gets a fresh start this morning. Someone needs a fresh start and Christ provides that in baptism. His blood cleanses each one from sin and allows them to begin as a new person in Christ. (Romans 6)
I hope each member welcomes visitors into our assemblies. It is hard enough visiting, but it can be made harder when no one speaks to you. May our brethren stretch forth their hands to welcome those who visit.
I hope each member understands the brief sermon is presented after countless hours of thoughts, prayers and study. Even though it is over in 30 minutes, the knowledge it contains will reach to eternity.
I hope every minister knows they are loved. Whether it be the outpouring from the brethren or the encouraging words of a visitor, I hope each minister knows God cares for them and will always watch over them.
I hope to see my brethren in services, but if not, I hope they reach out to the ones who are absent; a card, note or call is an uplifting message to those who cannot make it to services.
The constant battle of the “good angel” on one shoulder vs. the “evil angel” on the other is portrayed as the battle each Christian faces in the midst of daily life. Choices arise every day testing our beliefs and some of those choices challenge us more than others.
How should we handle the choices of good and evil?
The answer is simple but the actions are hard.
We should all put the evil out of our lives in order to serve the Almighty God, but the practical application might not be an easy one. Each person has desires and emotions towards things we may know are wrong but we wish to hang onto those a little longer.
God, knowing the deeds and thoughts of man, instructed the Israelites in the Old Testament to purge the evil from the camp. Consider these verse in your study – Deuteronomy 13.5; Deuteronomy 17.7; Deuteronomy 17.12; Deuteronomy 19.13; Deuteronomy 19.19; Deuteronomy 21.9; Deuteronomy 21.21; Deuteronomy 21.22; Deuteronomy 22.24; Deuteronomy 24.7
At least 11 times in the book of Deuteronomy, God wants the Israelites to purge the evil from their midst.
Looking at the above from a historical point, one can see how the relationship the Israelites had with God grew powerful when they listened to His words, then grew apart when the Israelites did not heed the words of God.
As the creator and provider for mankind, God knows and has seen man struggle with the battle of good and evil on a daily basis, hence God’s words to mankind to “purge the evil” from the midst. God wants the best for man so He provided words to hear.
The apostle Paul understood the influence of one person on the congregation of the saints. When dealing with a continual immoral-living person, Paul speaks of their influence when he says, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” (1 Corinthians 5.6; ESV). Paul knew that even one person’s example affects the whole group.
As Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 5, he says the leaven must be cleansed. Each person reading this understands that the evil must be purged from the group, because of the influence which will rub off on one another.
While one today may think Paul’s statement to be harsh, the history of purging evil goes back to the Old Law.
When evil is not purged from our lives, we become calloused to the emotions we once felt. To give you a modern day example, several years ago the hit television show, “Leave it to Beaver” was censored for showing a bathroom. Have you seen something worse than a bathroom on television today? Has our viewing of television calloused us to the things of the world once thought of as being appalling?
What do you need to purge from your life? What influences are not what the Lord wants?
