Psalm 22:25-31
25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows. 26 The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the LORD will praise him-- may your hearts live forever! 27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, 28 for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations. 29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him-- those who cannot keep themselves alive. 30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. 31 They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn-- for he has done it.
1 Corinthians 3:1-2 NIV
Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-- mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.
Hebrews 5:11 - 6:3
11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12 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! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. NIV Hebrews 6:1 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.
“It Takes Love to Grow”
Mother’s Day
Welcome to First Pres, we are so glad that you are with us today. It looks like it is going to be a wonderful day out today. On days like today I can’t help but be a little thankful to a good God. So lets start out today by simply reminding ourselves that we have a good God who gives us days like today… turn to somebody and say, “God is good.”
Also… Happy Mother’s Day. For those of you who are mothers… on behalf of children everywhere I want to say “Thank you.” For you men out there that are hearing that today is Mother’s day for the first time… sucks to be you… better luck next year. I gotta tell you something about Mother’s day though… it is one of the toughest days to plan for pastors. So many of us have bad experiences tied into mother’s day… some of us have lost our mothers, some of us never had what we would traditionally call a “nice” mother, and some of you mothers will be forever scarred by memories of burnt toast passed off as breakfast in bed.
(Preaching the bad Mother’s day sermon.)?
Week 2 of “Lighting the Fires of Pentecost.”
Fire Number 1
The fire lit with gasoline. It burns quickly and intensely producing a great amount of heat and light… but quickly diminishes and burns out. The retreat… the event… the concert… the camp… come home renewed, regenerated, exciting, and ON FIRE. However… apart from that atmosphere the excitement wanes. What can we learn from this? We can not depend on something outside of us to sustain us for the long haul. They are all temporary fixes. Even Sunday worship is a temporary fix (if you do nothing else except worship in and of itself)… granted a great weekly fix… but a temporary fix nonetheless.
Fire Number 2
The logs on the ground, smothered with gas will burn… but won’t light. “I should’ve brought some more fuel.” It needs oxygen to grow. This fire produces very little light and very little heat. It just can never really take off. What can we learn from this? We need to take time to rest… to reflect… to pray… to spend time with God… to breathe… it takes a personal relationship nurtured with quality time spent to really grow.
Fire Number 3
The good old boy scout 1 match fire. It takes the most love to prepare… the most time to arrange and collect and put together… the most thought and the most care… but it is a good fire… a slow and even burning fire… a fire that will last and produce a good amount of light and a good amount of heat. ORANGE COALS. There is a lot you can do with a really good boy scout fire. You can keep the camp warm all night long. You can cook on it… boil water on it… What can we learn from this? It is our responsibility to prepare our own fire… to nurture it… to kindle it… to sustain it. And with a really good fire going… we can do a lot.
We need to treat our Christian lives like a good boyscout fire... we tend it... we watch over it... we work at it... and it will become a strong and heat producing fire that can carry us through all the cold times. We can... [Room for personal application to your church and your setting]
