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Building a Fire Revival – January 23, 2008

January 27, 2008 on 10:45 pm | In Paul Kauffman | No Comments

PREACHER: Assistant Pastor Paul Kauffman

SERMON TITLE: “Stoking the Fire – The Importance of Spiritual Growth

TEXT: Hebrews 5:11-14

11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

I. What is spiritual growth?
A. Spiritual growth is the opposite of being carnal. I Cor 3:1-3

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
To understand spiritual growth, it is very important, to understand what it is not.

What does Carnal mean?

1) having the nature of flesh, under the control of the animal appetites

2) governed by mere human nature not by the Spirit of God

3) having its seat in the animal nature or aroused by the animal nature

Demas was an example of what happens to a carnally minded person. II Tim. 4:10a

For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica;

B. Spiritual growth is the opposite of Spiritual immaturity.
1. Spiritually Immature Christians need milk instead of meat.

I Corinthians 3:2

I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

2. Spiritually Immature Christians have the tendency to be misled.

2 Timothy 4:3-4

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

1 Timothy 4:1-3

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

Immature Christians, today, are easily deceived by false teachings such as Mormonism, Catholicism, Vegetarianism, Global Warming.

3. Spiritually Immature Christians are unable to tell right from wrong.

Hebrews 5:14

But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

II. How does a Christian mature spiritually?
A. Christians mature by forsaking sin, and those that would cause you to sin.

I Peter 2:1

Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

Psalms 1:1

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

B. Christians mature through faithful Bible reading and prayer.

If a Christian has not completed the first step of forsaking sin, all the Bible reading and prayer in the world will not make any difference. I think many Christians struggle with this. They read their Bible and they get nothing out of it, because of the sin in their lives!

I Peter 2:2

As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

Psalms 1:2-3

But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Josh 1:8

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

C. One matures through faithful church attendance

Hebrews 10:24-25

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

D. Christians mature through teaching others the Bible.

Hebrews 5:12a

For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God;

Matthew 28:20 The Great Commission

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.

-If any of you have ever taught at church or school, you understand the principle. When you have to study a subject and learn it so well that you can teach others, that is when you truly begin to understand the subject matter.

III. Why is spiritual growth necessary?
A. Spiritual growth is necessary because God commands us to grow spiritually.

II Peter 3:18

But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

John 15:2

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

One result of spiritual growth is fruit. What is fruit in the Christian life? First of all, Christians should be showing the fruit of the spirit in their lives of Galatians 5:22-23, love, joy, peace, etc.,

But also very important, a Christian shows fruit by bringing others to Christ.

B. Spiritual growth is necessary because the whole church suffers from your lack of spiritual growth.

I Cor. 12:26

And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

This passage of scripture specifically addresses the Church as the body of Christ, and how all the members are blessed with different gifts, and it addresses how every member of the body is necessary. When you join a church you become a part of something that is a lot bigger than yourself. By refusing to make the effort to grow spiritually, you do not just affect yourself, you affect the entire church. Let’s take it a step further, your sin will adversely affect the entire body of Christ.

I Cor. 5:6

Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? This passage in I Cor 5, specifically talks about a problem in the church of Corinth involving fornication, the church had failed to deal with this situation, and so, Paul wrote to them reprimanding the church, don’t you know that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump”, in other words, One bad member will infect the entire church.

Christians are not sinless, and they need to confess their sins on a daily basis. Sexual sins are specifically referred to in this passage, but I believe that any unconfessed sin can adversely affect the church in the same way.

The story of Achan is an example, of one person’s sin affecting an entire nation. Achan’s sin was not sexual, it was unconfessed sin. Achan had directly disobeyed God’s command. I believe that if Achan would have confessed his sin, before getting caught, that he would have been forgiven and the judgment of Israel as a nation would not have taken place. Joshua 7

Conclusion:

In Conclusion, every Christian needs to be growing. A person can never reach the point where they have “arrived” spiritually. The Bible commands us to Grow. In II Peter 3:18 we are commanded to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Let’s review the four steps to spiritual growth.

1. Forsake sin and those who would cause you to sin.

2. Read your Bible and pray daily.

3 . Faithfully attend a good Bible-believing church.

4. Teach others what you have learned. Remember, you will never grow until sin is removed from your life, and worse than that, your sin will cause God’s blessings to be withheld from the entire church. What you do as a Christian will affect the entire church for good or bad.

Click Here to Hear Brother Kauffman’s sermon – Preached at our Keep the Fires Burning Revival

Building a Fire Revival - January 23, 2008 [22:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Building a Fire Revival – January 22, 2008

January 27, 2008 on 10:36 pm | In John Ritchie | Comments Off

PREACHER: John Ritchie, Assistant Pastor

SERMON TITLE: “Don’t Wait Too Late!” Convenient Christianity

TEXT: Matthew 4:18-22, Jeremiah 35:17

We have a calling, then an enabling, and then the response.

God is asking you to do some things. There is a surety of God’s calling. (vs. 19) God is still calling out to men and women today. He’s calling us to follow Him and serve Him.

Where are you tonight? God’s calling you. Are you saved? You know whether you are or not. If you are, then there’s more. God is not done with you once you get saved. God’s call to salvation is also a call to service. If you’re saved, start serving God.

It is God who enables/gives us the ability to fulfill the duties of that calling. We ignore God’s callings because of a fear of the unknown. We fear what may happen, what we will miss, or what He may request of us. Where God guides, He provides. God’s callings are God’s enablings. Rust ruins tools.

When God calls, what is to be the acceptable, expected response from us? (vs. 20) Peter and Andrew’s response was to immediately leave their nets and follow Jesus. God wants us to follow Him immediately, and not procrastinate in doing what He wants. Don’t put things off until tomorrow. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Today is the only day we have with certainty. God will let you off the hook and pass you by if you choose to keep waiting. Don’t wait to do what God wants you to do.

Don’t wait too late to invest in your marriage.

Don’t wait too late to invest in your children.

Don’t wait too late to tell people how you feel about them.

Don’t wait too late to get serious about your Christianity. People are watching you and making a decision about what they will do with Jesus based on your actions.

Let God paint the perfect picture of His Son upon the canvas of your life.

Don’t wait too late to trust Christ as your personal saviour.

Building a Fire Revival - January 22, 2008 [36:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download