IDEAL life

There were many people who wanted me to reprint what I had talked about in my sermon on advancing our faith walk. The scripture was from Hebrews 10:16-25. The author of Hebrews was writing for the concern of the congregation that they continue to remain faithful in their love and dedication to God through Jesus Christ. The concern he had was that people were losing some of their zeal and were not attending the meetings as they did at one time. I thought that he could be writing about the church today. As I reflected on the scripture, a concern that I had was that worship today has become more of a production rather than authentic. There are people who choose their church based on the emotional feelings that they experience and then go home and live their lives no differently than when they come to the church. John Wesley warned about laying great emphasis on "enthusiasm" and neglecting building our faith each day. As I stated, emotions come and go. Commitment requires willful choice and faith is commitment to Christ. It is in that way we advance our faith.
As I was reflecting on the Hebrews passage and what the author said, I thought about what we can do today to advance our faith. The first step would be to remember the promises that we made in our baptismal vows. We agreed to renounce the forces of wickedness in whatever form that they may take. We agreed that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. We agreed that we will repent of our sins. And we agreed to be a part of the church in prayer, presence, support, and mission.
The second step is to hold to the hope that God has given in Jesus Christ. Paul says it best when he says in Romans 8 "if God is for us who can be against us." Hope is what God has done for us and hope is what we can teach to others. This world today needs hope. Hope and Love gives us the ability to face our problems, our trials, and our lives with new meaning and possibilities. It is in that hope that we are able to accomplish the impossible.
The third step is to be concerned for others and help one another to show love and to do good. This is a two fold step. The first is that we need to live our lives in such a way people can see the love we have for one another and for the stranger among us. Next week I will be talking about living as a disciple of Jesus Christ and what that might look like. What we do speaks more of our beliefs and our character than what we say. The second part is building each other up rather than tearing each other down. To do this means we have to provide opportunities for all people to learn ways of showing love and doing good. One lesson we can learn from self-help groups is that often we become more healed in the process of helping others become healed.
The fourth step is to continue to meet with one another in worship and in study. Today in most churches including my own if one has about 40-50% of the members who attend on a regular basis you are considered successful. We need to be present with one another not just on special occasions but on all occasions. This is how we can become accountable and continue our growth in Christ. And it is not just worship though that is important. It is becoming a part of a small group that focuses on our continued faith development. Examples of such groups can be Bible studies, accountability groups, mission groups, etc. The challenge is what groups are you attending?
The last step is to continue to encourage one another. I would add to encourage one another in love. If we want to advance our faith is not done at the expense of someone else's faith. Gossip and dissension do not build faith. This does not mean we cannot disagree. That for me is healthy. It means that I respect those with whom I disagree and hope that they respect me. In that way we become more the body of Christ.
I just wanted to share in writing what we are examining in our church about living the IDEAL life.