"Got Milk?"

"GOT Milk?"

1 Peter 2:2-10 (RSV)

U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris, Jr.

Fort Ord Chapel

Seaside, CA

20 April 2008

Big Idea: Christians who sincerely desire to grow stronger spiritually should attend Bible Study.

Scriptural References: EAI (Expository; Application; Illustration); 1 Peter 2:2-10 (RSV); 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV) And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love; 1 Peter 1:24-25 (NIV); For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you; John 3:16 (NIV) "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life; Hebrews 5:12-13 (NIV) In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness; Hebrew 11:6 (KJV) But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him; 1 John 4:20 (KJV) If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?; Hosea 4:6 (KJV) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children; Luke 15:11-32 KJV (The story of the Prodigal Son); Luke 15:16 NIV (He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything); Psalm 119:11 (KJV) Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee; Romans 10:17 (KJV) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: 1 Peter 2:2-10 (RSV)

II. READ THE PERICOPE: 1 Peter 2:2-10 (RSV)

III. READ THE TEXT: 1 Peter 2:2 RSV (As newborn babies, desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby to salvation).

IV. PURPOSE: To motivate the hearers to affirm to others that believers (who sincerely desire to grow spiritually) attend Weekly Bible Study to receive the Milk of God’s Word.

V. SERMONIC THEME: “GOT Milk?”

VI. Introduction: April is the month of “The Military Child”. Yesterday, The Presidio of Monterey and its MWR Directorate put on an outstanding event in honor of the military child. You simply had to be present to get the full picture of appreciation. To those of us that were in attendance, it was obviously clear that “our military children are important” and appreciated. Please join me in giving Colonel Martis, our Garrison Commander, and the MWR Directorate a round of applause for caring so much for our children. There were games, food, and lots of fun to be had by all.

Now, if you attended yesterday’s festivities, you know that our Children Praise Team performed, as they did today, at the Stillwell Center too. Wow! They were absolutely awesome. They wore uniformed Blue T-Shirts with “Ord Chapel” displayed on them – showing that they were proudly representing all of us.

Therefore, please join me in giving Arlena Strode (our Protestant Religious Education Coordinator) and Patricia De La Rosa (our Catholic Religious Education Coordinator) and our Fort Ord Children Praise Team a thunderous round of applause for doing such a superb job. Thank you!

****** TAKE 5 BEATS *******

MOVE 1: As parents, and members of Ord Chapel, we should all be Godly Proud of our children.

a. They are not only gifted and talented; but they are also smart and good looking.

b. I’m always honored to interact with our Christian children.

c. Education for our military children is obviously important to all of us.

d. But, surprisingly, in spite of our Nations effort to push education from our Nation’s Capitol to our various States and ultimately to our classrooms - through the national campaign dubbed, “No Kids Left Behind” – in the State of California, we are running “behind” 46 other States when it comes to our children secular education.

e. We are ranked 47th with only Mississippi, Nevada, and Arizona behind us.

f. It’s interesting to note that the States that are last on the “Smart List” are in the Top 25 of the “Most Dangerous States to Live In,” with Nevada being the “most dangerous at “# 1, Arizona #5, California # 13 and Mississippi # 23.