Growing As Christians

Growing as Christians

Intro:

1. Attend Church Worship Regularly

Church is not a building

A large family of people

A place where people are taught o come to God through his son Jesus

Read: Hebrews 10:24-25

Electronic culture disembodies and separates us from those closest to us. Most of us are quite unaware of this phenomenon and, in fact, believe our technology is bringing us closer.

There are two friends who are best friends. Each was the best man in the other’s wedding. They talk every day, sometimes more than once, on their cell phones. They live only a few blocks from each other. Yet recently, one told me that he hadn’t seen his best friend in two months—two months! That’s more than a hundred phone calls, and countless chances to hop in the car or walk a few blocks to see each other. Their friendship is withering from lack of true contact; each person has separately lamented to me that they don’t feel they know the other person. Is it a stretch to think that the illusion of real contact provided by the cell phone has something to do with this sad story? [from Shane Hipps, Flickering Pixels (Zondervan, 2009), pp. 106-107]

Grow in understanding as you are taught

2. Live for others as well as yourselves

We live in a self centred, me, myself and I orientated culture

The more you help other people

as an individual

through your church

or in a community organisation

The more you will enjoy living as Christians [followers of Christ]

Ephesians 2:10

3. Learn to depend on Jesus

He has given us – The Holy Spirit – who strengthens us in tough times

Remind us of Jesus’ words

Helps us to pray

Give us power to what God wants

Helps us to grow to be more like Jesus

John 14:26

4. Learn to live one day at a time

Our lives can sometimes be filled with fear

We worry about the future

Lose confidence

Jesus says to take one day at a time (Matthew 6:33-34)

Dave Phillips/wife, Lynn,

Bringing relief to suffering children/reaching the next generation with the gospel

Started Children’s Hunger Fund out of their garage.

Six weeks after CHF was launched, in January of 1992,

Dave received a phone call from the director of a cancer treatment centre in Honduras -- a drug for seven children who would die without it.

Dave wrote down the name of the drug -- told the director that he had no idea how to get this type of drug. They then prayed over the phone and asked God to provide.

The phone rang again. It was a pharmaceutical company in New Jersey asking Dave if he would have any use for 48,000 vials of that exact drug! eight million dollars’ worth of this drug, airlift it any place in the world! the company was one of only two that manufactured this particular drug in the United States.

Forty-eight hours, drug sent to the treatment centre in Honduras and to twenty other locations as well. It was then he believed that God was at work, validating his calling to this ministry.

Today they have distributed more than $950 million in food and other relief to more than ten million kids in seventy countries and thirty-two states. Children’s Hunger Fund has distributed more than 150 million pounds of food and 110 million toys.

5. Read a section of the bible and pray

Take time regularly (each day if possible) for this good habit

Make a reading plan

Hebrews 4:12