This week’s Bible Talk took us to Hebrews 5:11-6:12 where we saw that we need to feed solidly on God’s word to live lives that produce the fruit of the Spirit – especially faith that endures to the end.
Click on the following link to listen or to download.
SCPC Podcast: Talk 5, You Are What You Eat (Hebrews 5:11-6:12)
How ya Growing?
I wanted to share about a growth area in my life and hope that it might spur others on.
Until 2yrs ago, I pretty much ignored any suggestions to ‘read a book’ – justifying it with the thought ‘i’m not a reader’. My bible reading was pretty povo too.
I guess i could be categorised as ‘not a reader’ in that i don’t read fiction and i can count on my hands how many books i’d read in the preceeding 10 years. And even those books were never finished. (Does this sound like you? Than please read on!!!!!)
HOWEVER, God was working in me a couple of years ago to finally pick up a Christian book and READ! I read and i haven’t stopped reading since! Infact i long for time in my week (full of busy times with 2 little kids) to sit and read!
I have also been reading my bible regularly – something i struggled to do. And this year especially through focusing on reading the bible in a year (outlines available from the church office!), and still going strong in August, i’ve read more of the old testament than ever before.
One thing that has helped me read a more indepth book was to meet 1:1 with something who was also reading the same book and most of the time it’s a no excuses understanding – we must read the chapter for the week! (a good way to help me persevere even when the book is a hard read).
From reading God’s word and other solid Christian books, my understanding of God has grown and I long to know him even more! On reflection, I can see the growth that feeding on God’s word has made in my life, in my faith and obedience to him.
I want to encourage those people who are not ‘regularly readers’ to make it a priority to open God’s word regularly and read some great solid Christian books (I recommend looking on the church bookstall for books so that you know their content will be faithful to God’s word). It might be hard at first but it is worth it!!!!!
I promise I didn’t ask her to write that!
Hi Pete,
Your diagrams in the talk yesterday were really helpful for me to get a better picture in my head of where I am currently placed in my growth as a Christian and where I’m headed, so thank you!
I had a question about people falling away… We’ve been discussing this very issue in my small group over the last few weeks and we were looking forward to hearing you preach on Hebrews 6:4-6 particularly, but also within the context of the passage.
I understand that if we cling to Jesus we cannot fall away. I also understand the ‘apparent Christian’ category of people that perhaps weren’t actually Christians before they fell away etc…
My question is about the person who could fit into the ‘apparent Christian’ category, but also perhaps further into ‘apparent growing as a Christian’, e.g. someone who is very knowledgeable about the bible, leads a bible study group, perhaps does some lay preaching etc, and seems like they’re genuinely growing in their relationship with God, but then turns their back on God and drifts/falls away. What happens with them?
Hebrews 6:4-6 “It is impossible…if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.” Are they gone for good?
In our small group we’ve tossed ideas back and forth for someone in this category we couldn’t come up with an answer from the passage. What’s your take on it?
Hi Jill
Fruit is a good indicator that someone is a genuine believer but of course we can fool one another and even ourselves (check out Matthew 7:15-23)! I can think of a number of people who everyone would have thought belonged in “box 4” in many areas of life but who have now turned their back on Jesus altogether.
The interesting thing is that I can also think of people who have confessed faith in Jesus, rejected him, and now seem to be living God-honouring lives! I guess this must mean that they either weren’t genuine believers the first time around (although they and others may have thought otherwise) or they were but their apparent rejection of Jesus was somehow different to the rejection that “Bruce” describes as “crucifying the son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace”.
But the bottom line is that God can’t be fooled, he knows those who are his (John 10, 27-28). We can only encourage growth where we see it and rebuke and correct ungodliness where that’s necessary too.
And of course as you’ve said, we must continue to hold onto Jesus ourselves, delighting in the gospel, believing it ever more deeply and putting it into practice in our lives. And we must encourage one another to do the same.
Question i didn’t get to ask at question time:
Was the garden of Eden Pefect? as in the whole thing, not just Adam and Eve.
Thanks for putting the slides up on the web site (at http://www.scpc.org.au/resources/bible-talks/?sermon_id=276) Pete. I discovered that if you click on the slide it goes to the next slide. Much easier to read than my tiny messy hand drawn ones!
Thank Dave Kemsley – he put them up. I wouldn’t have had the first clue!
As for Eden, I guess it depends on what you mean by “perfect” Mark. It was “very good” and there was no sin (although the presence of the snake will always remain a bit of a mystery) but I don’t think it was perfect in the sense of being “complete”. If we really do believe in God’s sovereignty then we have to believe that he knew what was going to happen and therefore that Eden was just stage 1. In that sense I think it would be better to think of Eden as “very good” and the new creation as “perfect”.