Good Morning
What a great Sunday. We heard from three students who attended Student Leadership University. And we had a song from our student group. What a blessing to see our students contributing and leading in worship. And thank you to Jesse for sharing Even If with us.
I started a new series on the Sermon on the Mount. The next few weeks will cover what is known as the Beattitudes. Each one is connected to a broken heart in some way. I encourage you to be here and bring someone with you who is struggling.
The Five Love Languages
Michelle and I are team teaching The Five Love Languages at 6pm on Sunday nights. This is a three week group that includes the personal assessment, an overview of each of the love languages, and lots of examples of how the dynamics work in personal and family life. Books will be available for a small fee and you can sign up Sunday at church or contact me by email.
Wednesday Schedule Resumes
Our regular Wednesday night schedule is back this week. The Inspiration group is finishing up God Never Said That and Refuge is kicking off something new for the students. Everything starts at 6:30pm.
Wildflower Dental Clinic
The dental bus will be at Mt. Olive on July 12th at 10am. Appointments can be made through the clinic.
Breakfast for Students
Each Sunday morning volunteers serve breakfast to our students. A schedule is on the white board in the fellowship hall. See Barbara Rackliff if you would like to provide the breakfast one of the available weeks.
Plug-In To A Group
Ongoing groups are held Sunday mornings at 9:30 and Wednesday nights at 6:30. Other groups are available. A list of all groups is on the table in the foyer of the church. You can find out more about groups by calling the church office or emailing Debbie Bohannon.
Monday Morning 5
1. Divine appointments: God is on the job
2. 8 Ways to Miss the Point of Small Group
3. Hospitality Is Not Just for Home
4. 10 SURPRISING REASONS TO PRAY FOR YOUR PASTOR
5. God Can Rebuild What Porn Ruined
Monday Meditation
My Utmost for His Highest July 10, 2017
The Spiritually Lazy Saint
We are all capable of being spiritually lazy saints. We want to stay off the rough roads of life, and our primary objective is to secure a peaceful retreat from the world. The ideas put forth in these verses from Hebrews 10 are those of stirring up one another and of keeping ourselves together. Both of these require initiative— our willingness to take the first step toward Christ-realization, not the initiative toward self-realization. To live a distant, withdrawn, and secluded life is diametrically opposed to spirituality as Jesus Christ taught it.
The true test of our spirituality occurs when we come up against injustice, degradation, ingratitude, and turmoil, all of which have the tendency to make us spiritually lazy. While being tested, we want to use prayer and Bible reading for the purpose of finding a quiet retreat. We use God only for the sake of getting peace and joy. We seek only our enjoyment of Jesus Christ, not a true realization of Him. This is the first step in the wrong direction. All these things we are seeking are simply effects, and yet we try to make them causes.
“Yes, I think it is right,” Peter said, “…to stir you up by reminding you…” (2 Peter 1:13). It is a most disturbing thing to be hit squarely in the stomach by someone being used of God to stir us up— someone who is full of spiritual activity. Simple active work and spiritual activity are not the same thing. Active work can actually be the counterfeit of spiritual activity. The real danger in spiritual laziness is that we do not want to be stirred up— all we want to hear about is a spiritual retirement from the world. Yet Jesus Christ never encourages the idea of retirement— He says, “Go and tell My brethren…” (Matthew 28:10).
The true test of our spirituality occurs when we come up against injustice, degradation, ingratitude, and turmoil, all of which have the tendency to make us spiritually lazy. While being tested, we want to use prayer and Bible reading for the purpose of finding a quiet retreat. We use God only for the sake of getting peace and joy. We seek only our enjoyment of Jesus Christ, not a true realization of Him. This is the first step in the wrong direction. All these things we are seeking are simply effects, and yet we try to make them causes.
“Yes, I think it is right,” Peter said, “…to stir you up by reminding you…” (2 Peter 1:13). It is a most disturbing thing to be hit squarely in the stomach by someone being used of God to stir us up— someone who is full of spiritual activity. Simple active work and spiritual activity are not the same thing. Active work can actually be the counterfeit of spiritual activity. The real danger in spiritual laziness is that we do not want to be stirred up— all we want to hear about is a spiritual retirement from the world. Yet Jesus Christ never encourages the idea of retirement— He says, “Go and tell My brethren…” (Matthew 28:10).
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